Sunn3D

Nick Sonnentag

Nick Sonnentag

Founder & CEO

Nick Sonnentag has spent his career proactively solving root problems – not just responsively fixing issues. As someone who is passionate about innovation and sustainability, Nick not only sees potential where others might not, but knows how to take complex ideas with significant impact and make them a reality. 

His global perspective of additive manufacturing and its environmental impact coupled with the associated business opportunities made available through such innovation make him a known and respected name in Materials Science and additive manufacturing throughout the United States. Nick has collaborated with representatives from the American Concrete Institute and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

Nick feels so strongly in the notion of Construction 3-D Printing that he founded Sunnyday Technologies in 2023 and converted his basement workshop into a fully-functioning concrete additive manufacturing lab where he works several nights a week to test, create, and modify binder systems for 3D printing. 

In addition to developing new structural binder systems for 3D printing Nick is known to family and friends as someone who can print just about anything on a 3D printer;  especially print-in-place functional toys and gadgets to inspire the next generation of engineers. Nick has taught his 7-year-old daughter how to use Tinkercad and she now designs her own toys. Nick’s 4-year-old son serves as quality control and is encouraged to break anything his dad prints. 

Nick currently works at Oshkosh Corporation where he leads efforts to integrate advanced manufacturing methods and materials into heavy-duty automotive applications with a strong emphasis on large-scale 3D printing technologies. This included work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to investigate and develop a construction 3D printer system for portland cement based mortar. 

From 2006-2018, Nick worked at Allegheny Technologies Forging Operations where he developed wrought processes and heat treatments for titanium, aluminum and superalloy materials while managing research projects for Aerospace and military applications. He served as the technical oversight committee representative for Allegheny Technologies Incorporated on the Metals Affordability Initiative where he worked for over a decade with representatives from the US Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. 

Nick began his career as a Formulations Chemist at Dupont where he learned how to formulate extrudable materials into water-dissolvable pellets beginning at lab-scale scouting through full-scale industrial processes refinement creating metric tons of product for commercial testing of new product development. 

Nick holds a Bachelor of Science in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.