Significant developments in the boundary element method during the last two decades have made it a powerful alternative to the domain-type numerical methods of solution such as the finite element method. The advances made in the BEM are more or less due to the innovation of efficient computational techniques by introducing boundary elements for discretization of the boundary integral equations resulting from the so-called direct formulation. BEM has therefore become an efficient tool for optimal design and other inverse problems. These proceedings include discussion of the applications of BEM in mechanical engineering and the principles that have developed to make it an increasingly useful method of problem solving.