Peter D. Welch
Peter D. Welch was a scientist and researcher in the area of computer simulation, as well as applied mathematics, applied statistics, and computer science. A former IBM researcher, he is best known for his work with Welch's method to reduce signal noise.
Education
Welch attended University of Chicago. He received his M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, M.S. in Physics from New Mexico State University and Ph.D. in mathematical statistics from Columbia University.Career
Welch joined IBM Research at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, where he conducted research and development for over three decades. At IBM Research he worked in the areas of speech recognition, spectral estimation, queueing theory, seismic signal processing, fast Fourier methodology, pattern recognition, computer and communication system performance modeling, simulation output analysis, and graphics system design.Welch played a role in promoting simulation as a rigorous discipline during his service as the Simulation Department Area Editor of Operations Research. Welch's paper on the "use of fast Fourier transform for the estimation of power spectra" or Welch's method, has been cited over 5,000 times and remains widely used to reduce noise caused by imperfect and finite data.
Welch died in 2023, at the age of 94.