Abstract

Engineering is a profession whereby principles of nature are applied to build useful objects. A mechanical engineer designs a new engine, or a car suspension or a robot. A civil engineer designs a bridge or a building. A chemical engineer designs a distillation tower or a chemical process. An electrical engineer designs a computer or an integrated circuit. The process of determining the best design is called optimization. Thus we may wish to design the smallest heat exchanger that accomplishes the desired heat transfer, or we may wish to design the lowest-cost bridge for the site, or we may wish to maximize the load a robot can lift, so optimization is a process that can be seen in almost every aspect of life, Engineering requires optimization so that they can design faster planes and cars, that use less fuel, lighter, stronger, and more comfortable. Engineers have been optimizing designs since the beginning, but recent advances in computing have made numerical optimization techniques a more effective way than the original trial-and-error and experience-based optimization. The computational costs increase highly nonlinearly as the number of design variables increases [1-4].