Dr. Robert Gao, the Pratt & Whitney Endowed Chair Professor in Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Ruqiang Yan, a UMass-Amherst alumnus previously advised by Dr. Gao who is now a professor at the Southeast University in Chin, authored a new book titled Wavelets: Theory and Applications for Manufacturing. The textbook was published in December 2010 by Springer.

The book provides a systematic yet easily accessible treatment of the mathematics related to the wavelet transform. Through numerous examples collected in Dr. Gao’s laboratory, the book illustrates, in concrete terms, how wavelet transform can be applied to manufacturing and related engineering applications to improve the accuracy and reliability of machine condition monitoring and defect diagnosis.

While a number of texts and a large volume of publications on the theory and application of wavelet transform exist, there has been a persistent gap in the literature aimed at graduate students and practicing engineers who are interested in learning about how to apply the theory of wavelet transform to solving problems related to equipment and process monitoring, diagnostics, and prognostics in manufacturing. The book from Drs. Gao and Yan was designed precisely to exactly this gap.

In Wavelets, the authors:

• Provide a comprehensive survey on wavelets specifically related to problems encountered in manufacturing
• Discuss the integration of wavelet transforms with other soft computing techniques such as fuzzy logic, for machine defect and severity classification
• Show how to custom design wavelets for improved performance in signal analysis

Read more about Dr. Gao’s work here.