The year 2009 celebrates the bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th - niversary of the publication of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species.If this makes 2009 a special year for the research community working in biology and evolution, the ?eld of evolutionary computation (EC) also shares the same excitement. EC techniques are e?cient, nature-inspired planning and optimi- tion methods based on the principles of natural evolution and genetics. Due to their e?ciency and simple underlying principles, these methods can be used in the context of problem solving, optimization, and machine learning. A large and ever-increasing number of researchers and professionals make use of EC te- niques in various application domains. ThisvolumepresentsacarefulselectionofrelevantECapplicationscombined with a thorough examination of the techniques used in EC. The papers in the volume illustrate the current state of the art in the application of EC and can help and inspire researchers and professionals to develop e?cient EC methods for design and problem solving.