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An optimization strategy has been developed to determine the optimal surface-profile of a uniform thickness orthotropic shell for maximizing its ultimate load-carrying capacity. Ultimate load is obtained by considering both buckling and Tsai-Wu failure criteria. A parametric model of the laminated cylindrical shell is created in ANSYS to compute the ultimate load. Later, this finite element computation is coupled with MATLAB to obtain the optimal design parameters. It is shown that the optimal shapes, obtained for several loading conditions, can result in remarkable improvement in the ultimate strength in comparison to the base model of a circular cylindrical shell.