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E ngineering design is a process of synthesis.
An engineer planning a new road bridge, for example, must take into account a whole range of interrelated factors such as the bridge's deflection under different loads, its resistance to earthquakes, the building cost and the noise produced by traffic travelling across it. Unfortunately, juggling all these factors at once can be time-consuming and the engineer may not even be sure that the final design will meet all the constraints imposed on it. The future of engineering design lies in optimisation, a computer technique that allows engineers to be confident that they have found the best possible solution to a particular aspect of the design. By optimising simultaneously for cost, weight, strength and all the other factors that are important to the final design, the engineer can make sure that nothing has been overlooked and that the finished product is indeed the best for the job. They have developed a saleable product that has already created great interest in the aerospace industry and has a promising future in the design of cars, ships and offshore oil platforms.