Abstract:

The discipline that links studies of failure mechanisms to system lifecycle management is referred to as Prognostics and Health Management or simply PHM. The PHM is a proactive equipment maintenance capability enabled by using Health Management indicators to predict a functional failure ahead of the event so that appropriate action can be taken. In fact, PHM involves the collection and processing of precursor-to-failure data from fielded platforms for the purpose of mitigating failures before mission loss. The most active research groups are under the dynamic leadership of Professor Michael Pecht, who is the Director both of the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) at the University of Maryland, USA, and the City University of Hong Kong Centre for Prognostics and System Health Management.

The CityU PHM Centre under Professor Pecht has been conducting research and development in prognostics and health management applications for electronic products and systems as well as for systems-of-systems for several years. Consumer electronics companies and organizations like Dell, NASA, Boeing, General Motors, etc., are investing heavily in this area to reduce warranty costs and product qualification time.

In collaboration with the CALCE PHM programme of University of Maryland under the leadership of Professor Pecht, City University of Hong Kong has set up the CityU PHM Centre with headquarters in Hong Kong and a laboratory in Shenzhen. This new centre has been established because of growing interest in PHM implementation on the part of a large number of companies in China in the area of avionics, aerospace, computer, telecommunications, LED lighting, automotives, and power. The CityU PHM Centre will be cooperating with Georgia Tech, University of Maryland, Beihang University’s Institute of Reliability Engineering, China Electronics Produce Reliability and Environmental Testing Research Institute: Reliability Research and Analysis Centre (CEPREI), and China AVIC Aero-polytechnology Establishment (CAPE) to co-develop state-of-the-art methods and technologies to promote high quality prognostics research and development.

I am pleased to know that the International Journal of Performability Engineering (IJPE) has taken the initiative, in association with CityU PHM centre and CALCE PHM, to bring out a special issue of IJPE on PHM. This will help spread the message of PHM effectively in the Asia–Pacific region and generate much-needed research in this important discipline.

I congratulate the Guest Editors, Dr. Daniel Lau and Mr. Sony Mathew, for taking up this timely endeavour.