Mike Kesti is the Vice President of 3M’s Corporate Research Lab. The Corporate Research Lab is responsible for development and deployment of new technology across the global 3M R&D organization.
Mike grew up in Eden Prairie, MN, attended Carleton College (BA degrees in Chemistry and Economics) and earned a PhD in Chemistry from Stanford University in 1992 (under Professor Bob Waymouth). Mike joined 3Ms Post-it® Note laboratory in 1993 where he developed new adhesives and waterbased technologies for Post-it® Note products. He then spent 16 years in 3Ms Commercial Graphics division working on new, wide-format, graphic film products, eventually becoming the division’s Global Technical Director. During this time, the Commercial Graphics division merged with the Building Commercial Solutions Division to become the Commercial Solutions Division. In 2016, he became the Global Technical Director for the Personal Safety (PPE) Division. On March 1st, 20201, he was appointed Vice President of 3Ms Corporate R&D organization, replacing Greg Anderson (now retired). He has held board positions in the Signage Foundation (SFI) and the Sustainable Green Printing partnership (SGP).
Mike is married to Jennifer and has 2 sons, Nathan (19) and Quentin (9). They have recently moved from South Minneapolis to White Bear Lake, MN.