Artificial intelligence optimization offers a host of benefits for mechanical engineers, including faster and more accurate designs and simulations, improved efficiency, reduced development costs through process automation, and enhanced predictive maintenance and quality control.

“When people think about mechanical engineering, they're thinking about basic mechanical tools like hammers and … hardware like cars, robots, cranes, but mechanical engineering is very broad,” says Faez Ahmed, the Doherty Chair in Ocean Utilization and associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. “Within mechanical engineering, machine learning, AI, and optimization are playing a big role.”

In Ahmed’s course, 2.155/156 (AI and Machine Learning for Engineering Design), students use tools and techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning for mechanical engineering design, focusing on the creation of new products and addressing engineering design challenges.