"Engineers and scientists need to push the boundaries of composites research to make them more competitive. This calls attention for advances in materials and “thinking outside the box” design practices as opposed to traditional design rules, because the materials options and traditional design strategies have been responsible for the boundaries of the “box”. The proposed research aims to quest for an innovative material alternative and effective design practices. The project and associated visit to composites design group lead by Prof Stephen W Tsai at Stanford University will provide advanced training on several computational/practical techniques in composites research.. Three computational tools are integrated within a formal structural optimization framework and potential by multi-axial tape laying in design is examined. The tools are- Micromechanics of Failure (MMF): basis of a multi-scale model that bridges the behavior of constituents to real-life structures- Time-temperature superposition principle: provides information for life prediction to be built upon the MMF integrated constituent fatigue behavior rather than multitude of composites designs- 3DBEAM II: accurate and efficient design tool to assess unconventional designs, analyzing the real-life composite beam and frame structures.Case study will be aeroelastic tailoring by anisotropic design and the framework will eventually address the following potential contribution areas:•Innovations in manufacturing and design through the use of multi axial tapes•Systematic assessment of the design/lamination schemes for the usual performance metrics vs weight including the multi-axial material•Introduction of the MMF and TTS in design optimization framework•Introducing the realistic preliminary design tools adaptable to multidisciplinary optimization"