MIDWEST is a project starting in  2016 (kick-off in December 2015) and funded by  the EU-OceaneraNET program by the French ADEME, by the Swedish SWEA, and by the Portuguese FCT, aiming at proposing  new  tools for the wave energy industry. Wave energy converters (WECs) design currently relies on low-fidelity linear hydrodynamic models. While these models disregard fundamental nonlinear and viscous effects – which might lead provide sub-optimal designs – high-fidelity fully nonlinear Navier-Stokes models are prohibitively computational expensive for optimization. The MIDWEST project will provide an efficient asymptotic nonlinear finite element model of intermediate fidelity, investigate the required fidelity level to resolve a given engineering output, construct a multi-fidelity optimization platform using surrogate models blending different fidelity models. Combining know how in wave energy technology, finite element modelling, high performance computing, and robust optimization, the MIDWEST project will provide a new efficient decision making framework for the design of the next generation WECs which will benefit all industrial actors of the European wave energy sector.