Milestone-Proposal:Daubechies Wavelets
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Docket #:2025-03
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To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation? No
Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old? Yes
Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes
Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes
Was it of at least regional importance? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes
Has the IEEE Section(s) in which the plaque(s) will be located agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes
Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes
Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes
Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:
Title of the proposed milestone:
Daubechies Wavelets
Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance; if personal name(s) are included, such name(s) must follow the achievement itself in the citation wording: Text absolutely limited by plaque dimensions to 70 words; 60 is preferable for aesthetic reasons.
In the late 1980s, Ingrid Daubechies of Bell Labs developed compactly supported orthonormal wavelets that transformed signal processing by enabling efficient multiresolution analysis with both time and frequency localization. These wavelets advanced data compression, notably JPEG2000, and found broad application in science and engineering. Her work established foundational tools for modern signal analysis, earning enduring impact across academia, industry, and global digital technologies.
200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.
In the late 1980s, Ingrid Daubechies introduced a new class of wavelets that revolutionized the field of signal processing and established a foundation for modern data analysis, compression, and communication technologies. Known as Daubechies wavelets, these orthonormal wavelet bases combined compact support, smoothness, and the ability to represent signals with both time and frequency localization—features that had previously been incompatible. Daubechies created lectures that encapsulate this groundbreaking work and made advanced mathematical theory accessible to a broad audience of engineers, physicists, and applied mathematicians. Her wavelet constructions were not only elegant and theoretically robust but also computationally efficient, which led to widespread adoption in numerous fields such as image compression (notably in the JPEG2000 standard), seismic exploration, biomedical signal analysis, and wireless communication. The Daubechies wavelets are recognized for the development of compactly supported orthonormal wavelets and their critical role in advancing multiresolution analysis, fast algorithms for discrete wavelet transforms, and practical tools for handling real-world data. The influence of Daubechies wavelets spans academia and industry, driving innovations that are now integral to modern digital technologies. This achievement exemplifies the power of mathematical insight applied to engineering challenges and continues to inspire progress in theoretical and applied sciences. The Daubechies wavelets represent a pivotal moment in the history of signal processing, meriting recognition as an IEEE Milestone in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.
Communication Society, Antennas and Propagation Society, Standards
In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:
IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):
Milestone proposer(s):
Proposer name: Katherine Grace August, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Theodore Sizer II, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Giovanni Vannucci, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Thomas M Willis III, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Mathini Sellathurai, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Victor B Lawrence, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):
Nokia Bell Labs, Bldg. 6, 600 Mountain Ave, Murray Hill, NJ 07974 US (40.684042, -74.400856)
Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.
Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. The plaque will be installed just inside the main entrance to the Nokia Bell Labs facility in Murray Hill, NJ. The location is both a corporate building and an Historic Site. Other historical markers from IEEE are already on site both inside and outside the building.
Are the original buildings extant?
The original buildings are still in existence.
Details of the plaque mounting:
The plaque will be installed just inside the main entrance to the Nokia Bell Labs facility in Murray Hill, NJ. The location is both a corporate building and an Historic Site. Other historical markers from IEEE are already on site both inside and outside the building.
How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?
Visitors can see all the IEEE plaques at the Nokia Bell Labs location. They are accessible to the public during business hours.
Who is the present owner of the site(s)?
Nokia Bell Labs.
What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include detailed support at the end of this section preceded by "Justification for Inclusion of Name(s)". (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)
"The Daubechies wavelets, based on the work of Ingrid Daubechies, are a family of orthogonal wavelets defining a discrete wavelet transform and characterized by a maximal number of vanishing moments for some given support. With each wavelet type of this class, there is a scaling function (called the father wavelet) which generates an orthogonal multiresolution analysis." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daubechies_wavelet
From the Duke University Website: "President Joe Biden has announced that Ingrid Daubechies, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emerita of Mathematics, will receive the National Medal of Science in 2025. She is being honored for her pioneering work on signal processing.
Established by the U.S. Congress in 1959, the National Medal of Science is the highest possible recognition bestowed on scientists and engineers in the nation. Each year, a committee of distinguished scientists and engineers is appointed by the president of the United States to evaluate nominees from areas as diverse as astronomy, chemistry, computer and information science, engineering, geoscience, materials research, and research on STEM education.
“Ingrid Daubechies is a singular figure in her field, and we congratulate her on this recognition of her profound impact on science and technology,” said Duke Provost Alec D. Gallimore. “Her distinguished career has demonstrated the enormous potential of academic research and the transformative power of interdisciplinary thinking.”
Nicknamed “The Godmother of the Digital Image” by The New York Times, Daubechies’ research on wavelet theory — a refinement of the Fourier technique — underlies much of today’s image processing technologies, including image compression and denoising. Anytime you go to a movie theater, each frame has been compressed using Daubechies’ wavelet-based method.
“Ingrid invented a really elegant way of storing the important information within images that preserves edges and allows compression, but also allows almost perfect reconstruction of the image, even from highly compressed versions of it,” said Cynthia Rudin, Gilbert, Louis, and Edward Lehrman Distinguished Professor of Computer Science.
The elegance of Daubechies’ technique comes from the mathematics derivation of wavelets. “The derivation boosted Ingrid into legendary status among the mathematical world as well as among electrical engineers,” said Rudin, who also holds appointments in Statistical Sciences, Mathematics, Electrical and Computing Engineering, and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics.
Armed with her elegant math and unwavering curiosity, Daubechies spent much of her career defying disciplinary boundaries, weaving in and out of fields as disparate as art restoration and evolutionary biology.
“We join so many in congratulating Ingrid on this thrilling recognition of her life’s work and the far-reaching impact of her research, scholarship and mentorship,” said Gary Bennett, dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. “Beyond her historic findings in the fields of mathematics and engineering, Ingrid is a tireless advocate for increasing the number of women in the sciences. We’re beyond proud of what she has accomplished and how she is changing Duke and the world for the better.”
Her early work helped the FBI squeeze down millions of fingerprints in 1990s computers. She has worked with geologists to peek under the Earth’s crust, analyzing seismograms from earthquakes. She has partnered as with neuroscientists and cardiologists, reading MRI images of brain activity and patterns in electrocardiograms.
Using one of her techniques to compare 3D shapes, Daubechies has worked with fossil experts, analyzing scans of bones and teeth to learn about an extinct animal’s diet or locomotion patterns. In a completely different kind of museum, Daubechies and her team used wavelets and machine learning to distinguish forgeries from true works by Vincent van Gogh. The ensuing collaboration between mathematicians, computer scientists, museum curators and art historians has led to algorithms used to date and mathematically restore artwork that has cracked, faded, or been reduced to rubble by wartime bombing.
“I really get a lot of joy out of seeing creativity at work in any field; it doesn’t have to be a scientific field,” said Daubechies in an interview with the Simon’s Foundation Flatiron Institute.
Born in Houthalen, Belgium, Daubechies studied theoretical physics at the Vrije Universiteit, in Brussels, the same institution where she completed a doctorate in quantum physics in 1980. In the United States, she conducted research at AT&T Bell Laboratories in New Jersey before joining Princeton University’s faculty in 1993, where she became the first woman to be a tenured professor in mathematics.
This was only one of many “firsts” in Daubechies’ career. In 2000, she was the first woman to receive the National Academy of Sciences Award in Mathematics. A decade later, she was the first woman elected president of the International Mathematical Union. In 2018, she was the first female recipient of the William Benter Prize in Applied Mathematics. She is a 1992 MacArthur Fellow, a 2010 Guggenheim Fellow and has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2019, she was awarded an honorary degree from Harvard University and the L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science award. She received the 2023 Wolf Prize in Mathematics, and, in 2024, was elected to the Royal Society of London
Rather than boasting about such achievements, Daubechies has worked hard to help make the concept of “first female to” a thing of the past, advocating tirelessly to break gender barriers in STEM. “I feel successful being part of a bigger whole,” she told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s such a man thing to want your effigy. That may be a reason why women have been so forgotten.”
Daubechies, along with the other 13 National Medal of Science awardees, received the medal from the president Jan. 3 during a ceremony at the White House.
At Duke, she will join Robert Lefkowitz, Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of Medicine, who was presented with the National Medal of Science in 2008, as a recipient of this prestigious honor."
https://today.duke.edu/2025/01/ingrid-daubechies-awarded-national-medal-science
What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?
Key obstacles that had to be overcome for the development of Daubechies wavelets include: Incompatibility of Key Properties for example, before Daubechies’ work, wavelet bases could not simultaneously achieve: Compact support (localization in time), Smoothness, and Time-frequency localization. These features were previously considered incompatible, and achieving all three in a single wavelet construction was a major theoretical challenge.
In addition, there was a lack of accessibility of the advanced mathematical theory. The complex mathematical foundations of wavelet theory posed a barrier to wider understanding and adoption. Daubechies addressed this by making the theory accessible to non-specialists, such as engineers and applied scientists, through her 1992 book "Ten Lectures on Wavelets." Also, an important feature for acceptable computational efficiency, beyond theoretical elegance, wavelets had to be computationally practical to be useful in real-world applications. Daubechies’ constructions needed to be efficiently implementable in algorithms for use in fields like image compression and biomedical signal analysis. In summary, Daubechies overcame the challenge of unifying previously incompatible wavelet properties, translating complex theory into practical tools, and ensuring computational efficiency for widespread application. She also prepared a series of lectures through which she was able to share the Daubechies wavelets with a wide audience of non-mathematical specialists, including engineers and applied scientists.
What features set this work apart from similar achievements?
Why was the achievement successful and impactful?
The success and impact of Daubechies wavelets can be attributed to several interconnected factors:
1. Breakthrough in Wavelet Properties Daubechies wavelets achieved what had previously seemed impossible:
Compact support (localization in time),
Smoothness, and
Orthonormality with time-frequency localization. This combination allowed for highly efficient signal representation and analysis, resolving fundamental limitations in earlier wavelet constructions.
2. Mathematical Elegance and Practical Power Daubechies introduced a rigorous mathematical framework grounded in functional analysis, but she also emphasized constructive algorithms and explicit filter designs that made her wavelets immediately useful. Her work provided the first family of orthonormal wavelets with compact support, which were both elegant in theory and highly applicable in practice.
3. Multiresolution Analysis (MRA) Her wavelets became a cornerstone of multiresolution analysis, a paradigm that allows signals to be examined at various scales. MRA is now a standard approach in digital signal processing, enabling precise and efficient handling of data across domains such as image and audio processing.
4. Wide Applicability and Computational Efficiency The wavelets’ structure made them ideal for:
Image compression (e.g., JPEG2000),
Seismic and biomedical signal analysis,
Wireless communications, and
Data denoising and feature extraction.
Because her constructions could be implemented with fast, efficient algorithms, they found immediate adoption in both academic research and industrial applications.
5. Accessibility and Educational Influence Her 1992 book, Ten Lectures on Wavelets, played a crucial role by making advanced wavelet theory accessible to a broad audience—engineers, physicists, and applied mathematicians—bridging the gap between abstract mathematics and real-world problems. It became a landmark educational resource, spreading her innovations across disciplines.
6. Enduring Legacy in Digital Technology Daubechies wavelets laid the groundwork for modern digital signal processing and data analysis tools. Their influence continues today in areas ranging from machine learning and medical imaging to satellite data compression and audio processing.
In summary, Daubechies wavelets were successful and impactful because they elegantly unified theory and practice, solved previously intractable problems, and provided foundational tools that empowered a wave of innovation across science and technology.
Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.
Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.
Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).
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