Abstract: A system and methods are disclosed for designing components made from fiber-reinforced anisotropic materials. In accordance with one embodiment, each of a plurality of finite elements of a physical design space are associated with a respective index value that quantifies inclusion of the finite element in a fiber-reinforced component. Each of the finite elements along a longitudinal axis of a fiber of the component are associated with a respective vector specifying a direction of the fiber within the finite element. One or more inputs are provided to a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation for execution by the FEA simulation, where the input(s) are based on the index values and the vectors. A computer system determines a shape for the component and an orientation of the fiber based on one or more outputs of the FEA simulation.