Two engineering problems are presented and generalized into a high dimensional optimization design process. The first engineering problem describes an electromagnetic scattering device. An aperiodic design that is locally optimal is found and implemented. The second engineering problem is the optimization of a layered semiconductor device. Locally optimal designs are found for three specific design objectives. Because the locally optimal designs for the two design examples do not meet stricter engineering requirements a more thorough exploration of the parameter space is needed. To manage the high dimensional global optimization problem the ensemble global search is introduced.