This paper describes an optimisation methodology that has been specifically developed for engineering design problems. The methodology is based on a Tabu search (TS) algorithm that has been shown to find high quality solutions with a relatively low number of objective function evaluations. Whilst the methodology was originally intended for a small range of design problems it has since been successfully applied to problems from different domains with no alteration to the underlying method. This paper describes the method and it’s application to three different problems. The first is from the field of structural design, the second relates to the design of electromagnetic pole shapes and the third involves the design of turbomachinery blades.