1. A method for improving the detection of a process change, the method comprising: placing a substrate in a chamber; exposing the substrate to a process with at least one known process change; acquiring at least one dataset during a process; generating a first random population of process state functions; applying at least one dataset to each member of the first generated population; evaluating the ability of each member of the first generated population to detect at least one known process change; recombining the most successful members of the first generated population to generate a second population; applying at least one dataset to each member of the second generated population; and evaluating the ability of each member of the second generated population to detect at least one known process change.