Norman Salmon

Mr. Norman Salmon co-founded Hummingbird Scientific along with Professor Eric Stach in 2004. Together they have built a thriving, profitable, and debt free company that has created more than a dozen innovative products and aided their customers with hundreds of scientific publications.

Mr. Salmon’s role in the company is that of Principal Investigator, Chief Engineer and Operations Director.  He has been involved in supporting material science research for his entire career.  In his early career he worked to develop new materials for automotive applications. For the last 15 years he has been deeply involved in electron and x-ray microscopy, both by supporting other scientists as well as a PI in the development of new instrumentation. With his collaborators he has contributed to dozens of high impact publications in journals such as Science and Nature. His company’s in-situ microscopy instruments have been used to generate hundreds of peer-reviewed publications over the past ten years. More recently he has been directly involved as a co-author of publications appearing in Science, Chemistry of Materials, and the Journal of The Electrochemical Society.

Some of the company’s achievements include the SBA’s Tibbett’s Award, the US Federal Laboratory Consortium Award (jointly with the US Army Research Lab), and Microscopy Today 2012 Innovation Award (jointly with PNNL). As a Principal Investigator at Hummingbird Scientific, Mr. Salmon has received more than $19 million of funding from the Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences, the U.S. Army, and the National Institute of Health.

Mr. Salmon and has been involved in the precision engineering and manufacturing industry for over 25 years. His previous roles include owning an ultra-precision machine shop and as the Engineering Division Program Manager for the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. He is an expert machinist and tool designer. He has consulted for more than 50 organizations, including government agencies, medical manufacturing companies, precision machine tool builders, and manufacturers of precision components. He is an active member of the American Society for Precision Engineering, the Materials Research Society, and the Microscopy Society of America. Mr. Salmon earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering Technology from Western Washington University.

Learn more about his research interests and publications from his Google Scholar profile or by connecting to his LinkedIn profile.

Selected Publications

Relevant Publications

  1. Interfacial insight from operando sXAS/TEM for magnesium metal deposition with borohydride electrolytes, TS Arthur, PA Glans, N Singh, O Tutusaus, K Nie, YS Liu, F Mizuno, J Guo, et al., Chemistry of Materials, 2017.
  2. Electrochemical Measurements in In Situ TEM Experiments, E Fahrenkrug, DH Alsem, N Salmon, S Maldonado, Journal of The Electrochemical Society 164 (6), H358-H364, 1, 2017.
  3. Origin and hysteresis of lithium compositional spatiodynamics within battery primary particles, J. Lim, Y. Li, DH Alsem, H So, SC Lee, P Bai, DA Cogswell, X Liu, N Jin, Y Yu, NJ Salmon, DA Shapiro, MZ Bazant, T Tyliszczak, WC Chueh, Science, 353, pp. 566-571, 2016.
  4. In-situ transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy studies of interfaces in Li-ion batteries: challenges and opportunities, C. Wang, W. Xu, J. Liu, D.W. Choi, B. Arey, L. Saraf, J.G. Zhang, Z.G. Yang, S. Thevuthasan, D.R. Baer, N.J. Salmon, Journal of Materials Research, Journal of Materials Research 25(8):1541-1547, 2010.
  5. Hardware and Techniques for Cross-correlative TEM and Atom Probe Analysis, B. P. Gorman, D. R. Diercks, N. Salmon, E. A. Stach, G. Amador, C. Hartfield, Microscopy Today, June/July 2008.

Other microscopy related presentations at/proceedings of professional conferences:

  1. Electrochemical Measurements during In Situ Liquid-Electrochemical TEM Experiments, E Fahrenkrug, DH Alsem, N Salmon, S Maldonado, Microscopy and Microanalysis 23 (S1), 938-939, 2017.
  2. Using Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy to Reveal the Origin of Lithium Compositional Spatiodynamics in Battery Materials, J Lim, Y Li, DH Alsem, H So, SC Lee, P Bai, DA Cogswell, X Liu, N Jin, et al., Microscopy and Microanalysis 23 (S1), 888-889, 2017.
  3. In Situ TEM Observation of Water Splitting, JAR Manzo, NJ Salmon, DH Alsem, Microscopy and Microanalysis 23 (S1), 936-937, 2017.
  4. The Anode-Magnesium Monocarborane Interface for Metal Deposition and Dissolution, TS Arthur, N Singh, A Glans, YS Liu, J Guo, K Kisslinger, J Li, EA Stach, et al., ECS Meeting Abstracts, 312-312, 2017.
  5. In situ electrical testing of device-relevant nanocontacts in the transmission electron microscope, DH Alsem, S Sood, N Salmon, TDB Jacobs, Microscopy and Microanalysis 22 (S3), 818-819, 2016.
  6. In-Situ Liquid Cell TEM Studies of Electrochemical reactions in Lithium-ion Batteries, W Zhang, DH Alsem, N Salmon, F Wang, Microscopy and Microanalysis 21, 2431, 2015.
  7. Functionalized Surfaces to Improve Imaging Conditions in Liquid Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy, JM Miller, DH Alsem, N Salmon, NE Johnson, JE Hutchison, Microscopy and Microanalysis 20 (S3), 1140-1141, 2014.
  8. Liquid Electrochemical Cell for in-situ TEM Studies of Batteries, K Karki, P Gao, W Zhang, DH Alsem, N Salmon, F Wang, Microsc. Microanal. Proceeding, 1, 2014.
  9. Development of an Integrated Platform for Cross-Correlative Imaging of Biological Specimens in Liquid using Light and Electron Microscopies, DA Fischer, DH Alsem, B Simon, T Prozorov, N Salmon, Microscopy and Microanalysis 19 (S2), 476-477, 2, 2013.
  10. In-situ liquid and gas transmission electron microscopy of nano-scale materials, D Alsem, NJ Salmon, RR Unocic, GM Veith, KL More, Microscopy and Microanalysis 18 (S2), 1158, 6, 2012.
  11. In-situ TEM characterization of electrochemical processes in energy storage systems, R Unocic, L Adamczyk, N Dudney, D Alsem, N Salmon, K More, Microscopy and Microanalysis 17 (S2), 1564, 15, 2011.
  12. In Situ TEM Characterization of the SEI in Li-Ion Batteries, RR Unocic, LA Adamczyk, N Dudney, KL More, DH Alsem, N Salmon, ECS Meeting Abstracts, 511-511, 2010.
  13. Characterizing the performance of the FEI Titan environmental Transmission Electron Microscope/scanning Transmission Electron Microscope, EA Stach, SM Kim, DN Zakharov, Y Zvinevich, FH Riberio, L Miller, et al., Microscopy and Microanalysis 16 (S2), 294-295, 2010.
  14. Cryo-FIB preparation for Cryo-TEM tomography, M Marko, C Hsieh, D Vetter, NJ Salmon, C Mannella, Microscopy and Microanalysis 16 (S2), 178-179, 2 ,2010.
  15. Development of a high accuracy, large range and backlash free single-tilt/rotation (alpha-gamma) holder for precise alignment of TEM samples; N.J. Salmon, D. Vetter, E.A. Stach, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2008.
  16. FIB Milling of Frozen-hydrated Cells and Tissue for TEM Cryo-Tomography, M. Marko, C. Hsieh, N. J. Salmon, M. Rodriguez, J. Frank, C. Manella, Microsc Microanal 14 (Suppl2), 2008.
  17. In-situ Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy Studies of Interfaces in Advanced Li-ion Batteries under Dynamic Operation Conditions, C.M. Wang, Z.G. Yang, S. Thevuthasan, J. Liu, D.R. Baer, N.J Salmon, AVS Conference 2008.
  18. Use of Focused Ion Beam Milling for Preparation of Frozen Hydrated Specimens for TEM Tomography, M. Marko, M. Scheeff, C.Hsiesh, M. Rodriquez, N. Salmon, J. Frank and C. Mannella, Microsc Microanal 13 (Suppl 2), 2007.

 Other Publications:

  1. Metal Matrix Composite for Automotive Applications, Salmon, N., Cornie, J.A.: ISATA Conference on Advanced Materials for Fuel Efficient Vehicles, Florence, Italy, June 3, 1996.
  2. Smart Thermal Skins for Automobiles, Hopkins, D., Salmon, N.: ISATA Conference on Supercars (Advanced Ultralight Hybrids), Aachen, Germany, October 31, 1994.
  3. Advanced Parallel Hybrid Vehicle Design, Salmon, N., O’Hare, B.: SAE International Congress, Cobo Center, Detroit, MI, March 2, 1993.