[1] In 2005, Nelson was chosen as one of Scientific American's top 50 leaders in science and technology for his work on practical applications of nanotubes.
[7] Nelson held positions at Motorola and at Honeywell, and served with the United States Peace Corps in Botswana, Southern Africa.
The goal was to develop microrobots that could perform soccer related tasks, as a demonstration of the feasibility of fabricating Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) on semiconductor chips.
Zurich's resonant magnetic robot, or "Magmite", was 300 μm (0.012 in) long and could be driven forward, put into reverse, and turn left and right.
[20] Other possible areas that have been suggested for medical applications include the heart, urinary tract, small intestine and the brain, which are difficult to reach.
[22] The robot is made up of a multilayered structure of various hydrogels, which respond differentially to environmental conditions such as pH, temperature, or light.
[21] In collaboration with Daniel Ahmed of ETH Zurich, Nelson has developed magnetic beads whose movement can be guided against a fluid current.
In the same way that someone travelling up a river might hug the banks where the current is slower, the scientists operating the microbeads keep them near the sides of the glass tubes.
[23] Nelson's microrobotic systems have also been used by Hannes Vogler, Ueli Grossniklaus and other researchers in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at Zurich to study the trapping mechanism of Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula).