A system and method for accelerated simulation setup includes receiving a description of a new problem for simulation, extracting input data and output data of previous simulation results, generating a representation of data based on the extracted input data and output data, and quantifying similarities between the new problem and the extracted input data and output data to identify a candidate simulation for the new problem. A machine learning component infers a solution output for the new problem based on extrapolation or interpolation of outputs of the candidate simulation, thereby conserving resources by eliminating a simulation generation and execution. Alternatively, an efficient simulation setup can be generated using the queried knowledge, input variables, and input parameters corresponding to the candidate simulation.