Niclas Strömberg has worked with finite element analysis (FEA) for more than 30 years, both in industry as a simulation engineer and in academia as a researcher and teacher. He earned his Ph.D. from Linköping University in 1997, focusing on the thermomechanics of contact, friction, and wear, and later became an Associate Professor (Docent) in Engineering Mechanics. After his Docent lecture in 2005, he initiated research on topology optimization and data-driven design using surrogate models with uncertainties.

He has published more than 75 journal and conference papers and has developed several toolboxes for thermomechanical contact problems, topology optimization, and surrogate-assisted design optimization. In recent years, his research has focused on multi-scale topology optimization with triply periodic minimal surfaces and data-driven reliability-based design optimization using efficient surrogate models. The fundamental and advanced topics of finite element analysis and design optimization that he has relied on and developed throughout his career are presented in a didactic manner in this book. The material in the book has been used in courses on linear FEA, non-linear FEA, contact mechanics as well as design optimization.