Optimization is central to any problem involving decision making in many disciplines, such as engineering, mathematics, statistics, economics and computer science. Now more than ever, it is increasingly vital to have a firm grasp of the topic due the ever-increasing demand to lower production costs to withstand global competition, to design and produce products and systems both economically and efficiently.

With rapidly advancing computer technology, computers are becoming more powerful, and correspondingly, the size and the complexity of the problems that can be solved using optimization techniques are also increasing. Optimization methods coupled with modern tools of computer aided design, are also being used to enhance the creative process of conceptual and detailed design of engineering systems.

The purpose of this workshop is to present an introductory to the techniques and appllications of optimization in a comprehensive manner. Many examples and exercise will be illustrated and based on MATLAB and the optimization toolboxes.