With the advancement in computer technologies, optimisation has been increasingly applied to support product development and manufacturing. Manufacturing industry is reaping the benefits of utilising optimisation in a number of ways including improving product performance and reducing production or life cycle costs. 

The NAFEMS seminar on Engineering Optimisation for Industrial Applications provided an overview of optimisation methods and techniques currently available, ranging from the classical approaches such as gradient and simplex methods through to more sophisticated methods such as genetic algorithms and response surface modelling. 

Industrial users gave presentations on how they utilise various optimisation methods in their product design and manufacturing life cycle modelling.   This seminar was conceived with engineering applications in mind. In addition to an introduction and overview of the optimisation methods available, the industrial presentations covered a wide spectrum from single discipline single objective, to multi-discipline multi-objective optimisation applications.  Several optimisation tool vendors were invited to attend the event, to exhibit the commercial tools available for optimisation applications.