A cylindrical 16-pole electromagnet (EM) for electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) and low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been designed by means of two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3-D) finite element analysis (FEA). The use of an automatic procedure that combines FEA with a minimization routine allowed the optimization of the design, in order to improve the homogeneity along the axis of the EM. A prototype has been built by using electrical steel sheets that were cut by laser; this solution reduced significantly the manufacturing cost. The EM operates with a maximum flux density, in the bore, of 0.08 T and has a homogeneity along the axis of about 40 parts per million (ppm) in a spherical region 10 cm in diameter. It generates the main field and two of the three field gradients required in the 3-D image reconstruction. Good agreement was found between the results of simulation and the measured values.