Brad Nelson


Building Medical Robots, Bacteria sized: Bradley Nelson at TEDxZurich

Published on Nov 28, 2012

We learned of the existence of bacteria over 300 years ago and we have far more of them in our bodies than human cells, but it was less than 40 years ago when we first realized how they swim. With the discovery of the rotary motor of E. coli in 1973, a motor just 45 nanometers in diameter, some claimed this incredible mechanism as evidence of God, though it is really just a step along the path of evolution. Now we can actually build nanorobots that swim similar to bacteria like E. coli. We're working to use these to deliver drugs to specific locations in the body. E. coli itself is a kind of robot: it has sensors (chemoreceptors), motors, communication along protein guided pathways, and software (DNA). When we look at a bacterium from this perspective it seems like a machine, even one that we will be hopefully able to duplicate someday. So if bacteria are really just machines then what are we?

Brad Nelson is the Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Z?rich where his primary research focus is on microrobotics and nanorobotics with an emphasis on applications in biology and medicine. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Minnesota and robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. He has worked at Honeywell and Motorola and served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, Africa. He was a professor at the University of Illiois at Chicago and the University of Minnesota before joining ETH in 2002.
Prof. Nelson was named to the 2005 "Scientific American 50," Scientific American magazine's annual list recognizing fifty outstanding acts of leadership in science and technology from the past year for his efforts in nanotube manufacturing. His lab won the 2007 and 2009 RoboCup Nanogram Competition--both times the event has been held--in which micrometer size robots competed in soccer. His lab appears in the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records for the "Most Advanced Mini Robot for Medical Use." He serves on the editorial boards of several journals, has chaired several international workshops and conferences, has served as the head of the ETH Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, as the Chairman of the ETH Electron Microscopy Center (EMEZ), and is a member of the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
 

Rise of the Nanobot

Published on Oct 6, 2014

The future is in the hand of tiny robots, really tiny robots—and the expectation is that they will perform miraculous tasks, such as eye surgery and environmental cleanup.

Brad Nelson heads the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich, where they focus on creating these nano devices inspired by the biological mechanisms of bacteria such as ecoli and salmonella.
 

Bradley Nelson : Medical MicroRobotics and NanoMedicine : Teruko Yata Memorial Lecture in Robotics

Streamed live on Apr 16, 2015

Brad Nelson
ETH Zurich
April 16, 2015

While the futuristic vision of micro and nanorobotics is of intelligent machines that navigate throughout our bodies searching for and destroying disease, we have a long way to go to get there. Progress is being made, though, and the past decade has seen impressive advances in the fabrication, powering, and control of tiny motile devices. Much of our work focuses on creating systems for controlling micro and nanorobots as well as pursuing applications of these devices. As systems such as these enter clinical trials, and as commercial applications of this new technology are realized, radically new therapies and uses will result that have yet to be envisioned.

Bio: Brad Nelson received mechanical engineering degrees from the University of Illinois (B.S. 1984) and the University of Minnesota (M.S. 1987), and a Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University (1995). He has been the Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Z?rich since 2002 and has received a number of awards for his work in robotics, nanotechnology, and biomedicine. He serves on the advisory boards of a number of academic departments and research institutes across North America, Europe, and Asia and is on the editorial boards of several academic journals.

Prof. Nelson has been the Department Head of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH, Chairman of the ETH Electron Microscopy Center, and is a member of the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of three Swiss companies.

Before moving to Europe, Prof. Nelson worked as an engineer at Honeywell and Motorola and served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, Africa. He has also been a professor at the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Teruko Yata was a postdoctoral fellow in the Robotics Institute from 2000 until her untimely death in 2002. After graduating from the University of Tsukuba, working under the guidance of Prof. Yuta, she came to the United States. At Carnegie Mellon, she served as a post-doctoral fellow in the Robotics Institute for three years, under Chuck Thorpe. Teruko's accomplishments in the field of ultrasonic sensing were highly regarded and won her the Best Student Paper Award at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in 1999. It was frequently noted, and we always remember, that "the quality of her work was exceeded only by her kindness and thoughtfulness as a friend." Join us in paying tribute to our extraordinary colleague and friend through this most unique and exciting lecture.

A School of Computer Science Distinguished Lecture
 
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