This work is relevant to the electromagnetic area. Two advanced optimization techniques have been developed and applied to solve problems in both antennas and space applications fields. In the former case a Genetic Algorithm (GA) has been used to optimize high-impedance surfaces aimed to improve antennas performance. In the second application, an ad-hoc Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has been implemented to solve multiple dipole modelling problems for spacecraft magnetostatic cleanliness design drivers.