When tackling modern Engineering projects, designers need to consider not only engineering parameters but also key factors such as cost, safety and environmental impact. To exploit the interactions of these various elements, designers must consider them simultaneously. Doing so, significantly increases project complexity.

The optimization stage of the engineering design process is a systematic process using design constraints and criteria to allow the designer to locate the optimal solution. Majority of mechanical design includes an optimization task in which engineers always consider certain objectives such as weight, wear, strength, deflection, corrosion, and volume depending on the requirements. Design optimization applies the methods of mathematical optimization to design problem formulations.