  With the advent of novel quantum computing technologies, and the knowledge
that such technology might be used to fundamentally change computing
applications, a prime opportunity has presented itself to investigate the
practical application quantum computing. The goal of this research is to
consider one of the most basic forms of mechanical structure, namely a 2D
system of truss elements, and find a method by which such a structure can be
optimized using quantum annealing. The optimization will entail a discrete
truss sizing problem - to select the best size for each truss member so as to
minimize a stress-based objective function. To make this problem compatible
with quantum annealing devices, it will be written in a QUBO format. This work
is focused on exploring the feasibility of making this translation, and
investigating the practicality of using a quantum annealer for structural
optimization problems. Using the methods described, it is found that it is
possible to translate this traditional engineering problem to a QUBO form and
have it solved by a quantum annealer. However, scaling the method to larger
truss systems faces some challenges that would require further research to
address.
