The future of engineering design is set for deep transformation, and it’s being shaped by forces beyond R&D labs. From climate targets to geopolitical volatility, today’s challenges mean engineers must rethink how to approach problems. Breakthroughs in generative design, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing methods will profoundly reshape engineering across the globe.
At an expert panel hosted by ToffeeX, leaders from Airbus (aerospace), Rolls-Royce Submarines (defense and nuclear), and Nissan R&D (automotive) explored how tools are evolving, where human judgment still matters, and what it will take for organizations to keep pace with change.
Here’s what they see on the road to the future—and how they’re preparing for it today.
Sustainability: Driving the future of engineering design
Sustainability — while maintaining safety — is now the main driver of innovation.
Across every sector represented on the panel—aviation, automotive, nuclear, and defense—this message was consistent: sustainability is now a central driver of engineering decisions. For instance, for Airbus’s commercial aerospace business, the primary catalyst for innovation is sustainability while maintaining safety. For them, future success depends on extracting more efficiency from products while reducing environmental impact.
Goal-setters and strategic decision-makers
Whether designing a rocket engine or a battery cold plate, engineers must now consider a broader context: supply chain volatility, sustainability targets, regulatory shifts, and changing consumer expectations, to name a few.
One key takeaway is that the future of engineering design will not be defined by how fast we can generate designs but by how well we can understand and validate them. As design cycles accelerate and machines shoulder more of the analytical burden, the engineer’s role becomes more about setting objectives, understanding trade-offs, and interpreting results.
Platforms will not replace the engineer—they will amplify human creativity. The panel believes the challenge is ensuring that engineers can make informed decisions, even as digital tools do more legwork—a critical skill in the future of engineering design.
Dr Martin Muir, Senior Scientist at Airbus Central R&T, states:
The future of engineering design isn’t drawing the part, it’s defining the problem.
Systems, not silos
Engineering complexity is rising quickly. Products must be smarter, lighter, and more efficient, and they must often be manufactured in ways that stretch design processes to their limits. Because of this, engineering will be as much about systems thinking and strategic judgment as it is about tool proficiency.
As engineering challenges grow more complex, single-discipline approaches can no longer keep pace. Future demands will require engineers to work across multiple domains — combining fluid dynamics, structural mechanics, material science, and more — from the earliest design stages. Industries must also collaborate and share innovations, a shift already happening.
The consensus was clear: the shift is happening now, and engineers must adapt. That means integrating AI-enhanced workflows where they add value, without ripping out legacy systems overnight, and also giving teams the space to test new tools.
Additive manufacturing and gigacasting
Daniel Mak, Additive Manufacturing Engineer at Nissan R&D Center in Japan, envisions a future where newer manufacturing methods — particularly additive manufacturing (AM) and gigacasting — will fundamentally reshape the future of engineering design and challenge assumptions about how modes of transport should be designed and built.
Focusing on AM specifically, Daniel emphasized that Generative Design and AM continue to unlock new possibilities, enabling better-performing heat exchangers, lightweight structures, and geometries previously unimaginable through conventional processes.
Shapes with AM are often beyond what a typical engineer can easily imagine or design manually,” said Daniel, “so tools such as topology optimization (like ToffeeX) become essential.
Despite these possibilities, Daniel acknowledged that the design process remains slow to evolve, even with the growing use of next-gen tools like ToffeeX.
He says that engineering teams are learning that the key is to introduce new technologies selectively, targeting critical parts where they offer the most benefit rather than attempting to replace whole systems. He also stressed that widespread adoption will depend on cross-team collaboration and clear demonstrations of practical, real-world benefits.
Generative Design and AI lead the future of engineering design
Throughout the discussion, panelists consistently pointed to Generative Design and AI as transformative tools, which they see as practical solutions already shaping engineering workflows today. Tools like these are crucial during early design stages, where the most critical decisions are made.
Martin says:
There are three stages of design:
1. Concept design
2. Preliminary design
3. Critical design.
80% of decisions are made during concept design, but you must be able to have faith that the decisions you make during this phase are worthy of investigation. Going down the wrong avenue can lead to substantial losses.
Martin also predicted just how deeply AI will embed itself into the engineering landscape by 2050:
In 2050, I expect AI will be as seamlessly integrated into engineering as Microsoft Office is today.
Martin believes neural networks, surrogate models, and advanced simulation tools will be fully embedded in design workflows by 2050, which is an exciting premise.
Danny Duder, Component Design Specialist at Rolls-Royce Submarines, raised an important question about where this trend might ultimately lead:
Are we heading toward dark design offices, where machines handle analysis and humans apply judgment?
The panel also acknowledged that the adoption curve is not without friction. Engineers often hesitate to shift away from trusted methods and established workflows, especially in industries where the cost of mistakes can be extremely high. However, they say, the human element is essential for successful innovation.
Danny said engineers need advocates who champion new technologies through persuasive evidence, such as compelling test results or physical prototypes. He called them ‘cheerleaders’ — people who provoke and inspire innovation.
Managing risk more effectively
Historically, engineering in sectors like nuclear and defense relied on deterministic safety analyses—designing for the absolute worst-case scenario. However, as Danny explained, the industry is moving toward probabilistic methods for safety analysis, where engineers assess a range of likely outcomes rather than planning for extreme edge cases.
Now there’s more interest in probabilistic methods — understanding the likelihood of failure and not just designing for an extreme that might occur once in a billion years.
Managing this shift to greater regulatory flexibility depends heavily on the availability of better simulation tools. And while generative design tools are powerful for exploration, Danny was clear-eyed about their current limits:
Right now, generative design isn’t ready for substantiation. There are too many degradation mechanisms — fouling, distortion over life, and so on — that are computationally hard to model in large-scale optimisation.
However, he believes that advancements like quantum computing could resolve these issues, enabling designs that meet strict regulatory standards without compromising performance.
Martin reinforced this from the perspective of the aerospace industry, stressing the importance of a rigorous, data-driven approach to regulatory innovation:
We need to identify where it’s possible to push back — not to compromise safety, but because we now have better simulation methods to understand the product lifecycle.
Preparing engineers for tomorrow’s challenges
All three experts concluded that tomorrow’s engineering challenges will require a broader skill set, emphasizing systems thinking, strategic thinking, and the ability to navigate complex trade-offs.
Danny said:
We need to make sure the next generation of engineers still learn judgment — not just how to use tools.
Airbus already sees younger engineers rapidly adopting new technologies without hesitation, driving change from within.
Younger engineers pick this up quickly.” Martin said. “They don’t see the risk that older engineers might. That’s empowering.
This future raises essential questions about training and experience. How do we develop engineering judgment in a world where simulations are increasingly opaque and design generation is automated?
One answer lies in fostering collaboration across generations, pairing the curiosity of young engineers with the wisdom of experienced mentors. This will help the younger generation apply these methods effectively to real-world engineering challenges.
“Making time for upskilling is critical. Having mentors helps engineers explore new tools quickly.” said Martin. “Our job is to give them the trust and the mentorship to apply them well.”
Engineering design will always be human work
The transformation of engineering design is already well underway. It will not be linear, but the direction is clear. In a world of AI-enhanced engineering tools, it’s easy to assume that human creativity will be pushed aside. But the opposite is true.
The future belongs to engineers who can integrate new tools without losing sight of human judgment. And the more decisions machines can make, the more critical it becomes to define the right questions.
Final thoughts: Advice for future engineers
Daniel emphasized that engineers must remain focused on creating practical solutions as tools become more powerful:
It’s tempting to use high-tech tools for simple problems. But elegant engineering is solving complex problems with simple, efficient solutions.
The session closed with one simple but powerful piece of advice from Danny Duder:
Stay grounded in fundamentals. It’s tempting to get excited by a new tool and believe it will quadruple performance. But if you can’t explain why your design works, it’s not a design — it’s a liability.
Thank you to Danny, Daniel, and Martin for discussing this fascinating topic of the future of engineering design. You can watch the full panel discussion here.
Meet the expert panel
Dr Martin Muir, Senior Scientist at Airbus Central R&T
Dr Martin Muir is a Senior Scientist at Airbus Central Research & Technology and a part-time member of Airbus Blue Sky. He works on upstream technology development across Airbus’s commercial, defense, and helicopter divisions. Martin has more than 15 years of experience. His work spans deep-space systems, submersibles, and advanced simulation technologies. Today, he focuses on sustainability, system-level optimization, and integrating artificial intelligence into aerospace design and development.
Danny Duder, Component Design Specialist at Rolls-Royce Submarines
Danny Duder is a veteran Component Design Specialist at Rolls-Royce Submarines. Rolls-Royce has supported the UK’s Royal Navy nuclear fleet for more than sixty years. Danny’s experience spans design justification, manufacturing introduction, and in-service support for highly complex systems. He works in one of the most tightly regulated industries in the world.
Daniel Mak, Additive Manufacturing Engineer at Nissan R&D Centre
Daniel Mak is an Additive Manufacturing Engineer at Nissan’s Research & Development Centre in Japan. His work involves optimizing designs, improving manufacturing processes, and building business cases for applying AM technologies. Daniel focuses on solving thermal management challenges in electric vehicles and pushing the boundaries of automotive design.
Luca Masi, Head of Sales at ToffeeX
Luca Masi is the Head of Sales at ToffeeX. Before joining ToffeeX, he worked at Ansys and Granta Design (a spin-off from Cambridge University), focusing on advanced engineering tools and workflows. At ToffeeX, he drives the adoption of innovative topology optimization tools for thermal-fluid applications, advocating for faster, more sustainable engineering design methods.
