The Adventioneers – using AI generative design to optimize material usage and strength in metal fasteners

Unobtrusive household items like metal fasteners are actually multibillion dollar industries, with billions of metal parts manufactured every year. Considering the massive amount of water, energy, and the land footprint it takes to make metal, even a small 5% decrease in the amount of metal per part would save billions of dollars in both manufacturing costs and avoided environmental damage. We plan to combine Artificial Intelligence with a branch of design called “Generative Design” to create new models and ideas from scratch without following preconceived notions of what objects should look like. These generated objects are stronger, lighter, and use less materials than their human-designed counterparts. We usually think of sustainability as big pieces, like recycling, but small and often ignored parts add up to have a great impact on the world.