 In 1977, he began work as a research engineer at the Research Triangle Institute (RTI).He was the head of the RTI Neuroscience Program 1983–1994, the director of the Center for Auditory Prosthesis Research 1994–2002, and was a Senior Fellow 2002–07.In 1983, Wilson received the first of seven contracts (1983–2005) from the Neural Prosthesis Branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate sound coding strategies for cochlear implants.