OSU professor emeritus R. Russell Rhinehart has just finished writing the book, Nonlinear Regression Modeling for Engineering Applications: Modeling, Model Validation, and Design of Experiments, which is being published by John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 9781118957965, 360 pages, 2016. The book is a user’s guide to mathematical modeling of physical systems, emphasizing engineering applications.

“Since mathematical models express our understanding of how nature behaves, we use them to validate our understanding of the fundamentals about systems,” says Rhinehart. "Then, the validated model is useful for engineering diagnosis, design, and optimization. Engineers need to understand best practices in developing models from data.”

His book details methods of nonlinear regression, computational algorithms, model validation, interpretation of residuals and useful experimental design to generate data. The focus is on practical applications, with relevant methods supported by fundamental analysis.  

This book aims to assist engineers to properly classify the system, choose between the various available modeling options and regression objectives, design experiments to obtain data capturing critical system behaviors, fit the model parameters based on that data and statistically characterize the resulting model.

"I left the industry with an academic career objective to understand best practices in engineering analysis, and to coach others to be able to implement the techniques,” says Rhinehart. “Theory is important, but utility is more so; perfection is important, but sufficiency trumps it. The book seeks to present the material within a balanced concept; it is what I wish I knew as an engineer.”

Rhinehart came to OSU in 1997, and served 12 years as school head. He was formerly a faculty member at TTU, and an engineer/supervisor at Celanese. While at OSU, he also served as president of the American Automatic Control Council and editor-in-chief of ISA Transactions. He retired this summer, and as an emeriti he continues to pursue the organization and dissemination of elements of engineering for the practitioner. Visit www.r3eda.com to see more about modeling, optimization and control.