John Martens: 2026 Distinguished Achievement Award recipient

BSChE ’68
Co-founder, Snyder Biomedical; co-founder, Aging Health Sciences; corporate scientist, 3M (retired)

A chemical engineer, scientist and entrepreneur whose inventions and innovations have generated global impact across materials, manufacturing and medicine.

John Martens spent 35 years with Minnesota-based 3M in a remarkable career that resulted in 19 of the 40 total patents he’s earned, annual product sales exceeding $2 billion, and a spot in the Carlton Society, 3M’s hallowed inventors hall of fame. After retiring from 3M, he consulted on high-performance adhesives systems and aerospace projects, followed by more than 17 years in biotechnology as co-founder of Snyder Biomedical, and of Aging Health Sciences.

His innovations have provided technical and IP foundations for four trademarked product lines with more than $3 billion in collective annual sales. Those include 3M VHB adhesives, which helped the company drastically reduce volatile solvents that pollute the atmosphere; 3M BEF (brightness enhancement films) used in laptop and cellphone screens; and DuPont CyrelFAST flexographic printing plates.

After retiring in 2003, Martens founded Thimble Peak Consultants to help companies solve technical challenges, including improving a lithium battery manufacturing processes, developing accessory fuel tanks for military helicopters and redesigning production for a major adhesives manufacturer.

Seventeen years ago, Martens co-founded Snyder Biomedical Corporation and Aging Health Sciences with UW-Madison alumnus and physician-scientist Robert Snyder, MD, PhD. The company recently launched an oral capsule, MaculaPM, designed to slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness for people older than 60.

Which engineering professor made the greatest impact on you?

My sophomore year, I took my first chemical engineering course with Professor R. Byron Byrd and visited him in his office. I asked him, “What is the greatest weakness of chemical engineers?” He answered: “They don’t know enough chemistry.” Afterward I marched to the chemistry building and enrolled as a double major. And that was dynamite, allowing me to both initiate and carry out projects to commercialization. It was a fulfillment of my passion for chemistry that I had developed since age 8.

What advice would you give today’s students?

People think that if you have a great invention, the world is going to beat a path to your doorstep, while the reality is just the opposite: You have to forge and beat that path and build the manufacturing and the marketing strategy. The key is teamwork from multidisciplinary, talented people who have all the pieces you need to glue it all together and produce a product. Team-building was the most important skill I learned on the job.

Which do you like best?

Camp Randall Stadium or the Kohl Center or the UW Field House?
UW Field House. I rented a house on Breese Terrace across the street. I knew the basketball team practiced on Monday nights and I would go in the back door and sit at the end of the court with my books and watch. One time coach John Erickson came over and asked if I was a spy for Michigan. I showed him my books and student ID and told him I just loved the basketball team.

Sweet Caroline or Jump Around?
Sweet Caroline

Fondest campus memory?
My stepmother was one of the top season ticket holders—football, basketball, hockey. Before her 80th birthday we went to the athletic department and said, “Peg needs Bucky to come to her birthday party.” They replied “For Peg? Absolutely.” When Bucky showed up about half an hour into it, she almost fainted. It was delightful and a rare moment of joy for a lifelong Badger fan and alumna, too.