Generative design utilizes AI to provide you practical optimized design solutions.

Generative design takes an approach towards engineering that we’ve never seen before in the digital realm. It replicates an evolutionary approach to design, considering all of the necessary characteristics. Couple this with high-performance computing and the cloud, and you’re left with capabilities that engineers never thought they would have. The way in which engineers design is being brought into question with new generative design tools. If you’re an engineer and haven’t seen your workflows altered yet, prepare for the coming future. The onset of practical artificial intelligence algorithms has enabled the possibility of mainstream generative design tools. That means engineers can create thousands of design options inherent to their digital design and choose which design meets their needs to the fullest. From here, you can solve manufacturability constraints and ultimately build better products.

If you’ve been in the CAD and engineering design space for any period of time, you know that generative design has long been a buzzword of the industry. To the everyday engineer, it might seem like practical usage of the technology is far off in the future and can’t handle be something to concern yourself with. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Companies like Under Armour, Airbus, Black & Decker, and other massive corporations are embracing generative design as a trend shaping the future of the engineering industry. It allows engineers to hand the reins off to their CAD software to organically find the best solutions to a given set of constraints. It augments the engineer’s imagination. Through generative design, collaboration with technology can be organic and flowing. It results in ideas that are better than what you could come up with on your own, and products that are lighter and accomplish their directives better. It simply results in better engineers.
With all of that said, let’s escape the showy buzz around the tech and see what’s really possible.

What Can it Do?

Generative design is a tool that uses machine learning to mimic a design approach similar to nature. It interfaces with engineers by allowing input design parameters to problem-solving. If you have loads in certain locations, you need to maintain certain material thicknesses, or even keep certain costs, all that can be fed into generative design tools.