Automated optimization in the turbomachinery design process has long been an objective of many designers and a topic of study by several companies. Concepts NREC first responded to the need for such a practical system in 1997 when the company received funding from NASA to integrate iSIGHT software from Engineous Software into it's own Agile Engineering Design System®.

This early work focused on using optimization algorithms to manipulate the geometries of centrifugal pumps, fans, and compressors, with the analysis of each candidate design being conducted using a rapid streamline curvature (SLC) solver. [1]