Dr. Neil A. Salmon

My main activity is developing millimetre wave (mmw) novel sensors and systems for commercial exploitation in the aerospace and security sectors. Recent innovations are FDTD simulations of polarimetric radars for security screening and medical applications, concepts for exploiting quantum entanglement using continuous variable systems and 3-D aperture synthesis imaging.

2012-2020: At Manchester Metropolitan University as Reader I joined the ‘Sensing and Imaging’ group, to research mmw polarimetric radar and radiometric imagers for screening people for concealed weapons and develop/teach (post) graduate physics and engineering courses. Before this, I was Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester, researching mmw technology and developing/teaching the ‘Radio Imaging and Sensing’ MSc course.

1994 to 2011: At DRA (UK MOD agency) with universities and industry we pioneered all-weather mmw imagers for air, sea & land platforms, as a Principal Scientific Officer. In QinetiQ (DRA privatisation), as a QinetiQ Fellow, I developed aperture synthesis concepts and scene simulation software for satellite-based earth observation and personnel security screening. In a 2-year Royal Society Fellowship to Manchester University, I demonstrated several proof-of-concept near-field aperture synthesis imagers and formed MMW-Sensors Ltd.

1984-94: On the JET tokamak I developed mmw diagnostics to research major nuclear fusion plasma instabilities, gaining a PhD from Imperial College Plasma Physics group. On a Euratom Fellowship to the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, I developed a suite of mmw spectrometers to research temperature phenomena in the ASDEX-Upgrade tokamak.

1978-84: Gaining a Physics with Astrophysics BSc at Leeds University, following by an MSc in Lasers and their Applications at Essex University, enabled me to develop optical and acoustic technology for defence applications at Plessey Electronics Systems Research (now Roke Manor Research).