Summary: The optimum shape and arrangement of staggered pins in the channel of a plate heat exchanger are studied in this paper. The following four dimensionless geometric parameters of the pins are selected as the important design variables: the distance (L), the volume (V), the angle \((\beta)\) and the pitch (G). The pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics are examined, and an optimization is carried out to minimize a global objective function consisting of the correlation between the Nusselt number and the friction factor. The optimal geometric parameters are as follows: \(L=0.272\), \(V=0.106\), \(\beta=0.44\) and \(G=0195\). The optimal geometric parameters obiained from this study can be applied for a Reynolds number ranging from 500 to 1500.