Presentation made by C. Poloni at the NAFEMS European Conference "Simulation-Based Optimisation" that was held in Manchester on the 12th and 13th of October 2016.

The 1st NAFEMS European Conference on Optimisation took place on 12-13 October 2016 in Manchester.

Optimisation has become a key ingredient in many engineering disciplines and has been experiencing a fast growth in recent years due to innovations in optimisation algorithms and techniques, coupled with rapid development in computer hardware and software capabilities. The growing popularity of optimisation in engineering applications is driven by ever increasing competition pressure, where optimised products and/or processes can offer improved performance and cost effectiveness which are difficult to achieve with a traditional design approach. However, there are still many open challenges for optimisation to be used routinely for engineering applications.

This event brought together practitioners and academics in all relevant disciplines to share their knowledge and experiences, to discuss problems and challenges, and to facilitate further improvements in optimisation techniques for engineering applications.