Wayne Nelson consults on diverse applications of engineering data analysis to extract information that improves products. In addition to being a leading expert in the collection and analysis of product reliability data from field service, laboratory tests, and accelerated tests, Dr. Nelson is skilled in statistical analysis and modeling of data on measurement errors, and data from designed experiments and from samples from populations. At General Electric R&D from 1965 to 1989 and as a private consultant since, he has contributed to improving product performance and reliability in many industries including Aviation, Automotive, Electric Power, Medical Devices, Nuclear Power, Military Hardware, Railroad, Electronics, Microelectronics, Transportation, Materials, and Software. He is widely recognized for his innovative developments that solve nonstandard client applications. These developments appear in his three books and 130 literature articles. He also trains engineers on data analysis and works as an expert witness.

In recognition of his innovative developments for practical applications and his contributions to reliability education, he was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Amer. Society for Quality (ASQ), and the Amer. Statistical Assoc. (ASA). The ASQ awarded him the Shewhart Medal, Brumbaugh Award, Wilcoxon Prize, Youden Prize, and Shainin Medal. The IEEE Reliability Division awarded him its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.