How to Choose the Top Engineering Schools in 2019?

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Engineering is a branch of science and technology that primarily deals with the creation of new products. It also focusses on problem solving and making the complicated problems easier. Engineers are responsible for a varied range of tasks – development of advanced prosthetics, construction of highways and bridges, discovering alternative energy resources, and even developing software to make calculations simpler. We can find engineers in all fields of life.

With its many branches, and lucrative job opportunities, engineering is one of the most commonly studied subjects all around. But to satisfy the increasing number of student strength, private universities are being built every now and then.

But, not every university is at par with others when it comes to the standard of education and job opportunities it provides. So, one must assess and only then take up admission. To make it easier for all students, here is an article about the top engineering schools in 2019.

What are the different branches of engineering?

Engineering is a parent subject that can be divided into branches for students to pursue and specialize in. The main branches of engineering are –

  • Chemical engineering –

Is based on the principles of engineering along with physics, chemistry and biology to carry out chemical reactions on a commercial scale for the manufacturing and production of substances like chemicals, biomolecules and petroleum.

  • Civil engineering –

Deals with the designing and construction of infrastructure. They deal with both private and public projects and construct bridges, tunnels and flyovers. Civil engineering is further sub-divided into structural and environmental engineering.

  • Electrical engineering –

Is the study of different electronic and electrical systems? It mostly deals with circuits, electromagnetic devices, telecommunications and instrumentation.

  • Mechanical engineering –

Deals with the manufacturing of mechanical systems like energy devices, aero plane, engines and involves the study of mechatronics.

  • Interdisciplinary engineering –

Based on the principles of different branches of science, technology and engineering, this is a conglomeration that is utilized for addressing problems and manufacturing devices used for different purposes. The different kinds of interdisciplinary engineering include instrumentation, biomedical and textile engineering among many others.

Let us first have a look at the overall best 10 engineering schools in the world to pursue your engineering degree from.

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in United States is the best engineering college to pursue your degree from. Be it any branch of engineering, if one has the grades to get admitted to this institute, there is no second option. It has produced 89 Nobel Prize winners and has a strong foundation of a successful alumni which includes people like Buzz Aldrin.  
  •  Following closely, is another university from the United States – Stanford University. Located at Silicon Valley, Stanford is also known as the “billionaire factory”.
  • ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland is one of the world’s best universities and is renowned for its cutting-edge research. They focus on building a student’s practical applicability sense and all their courses are structured around a strong foundation in mathematics. Ranked at the third position, ETH Zurich offers a lot of branches of engineering for students to choose from
  •  University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom is a public university and is the fourth-oldest university in the world. It is also ranked as the fourth best university in the world. Cambridge is known to have produced ninety-eight Nobel laureates and continues to produce the best of the lot.
  • University of California, Berkeley in the United States is a public institution and a flagship institution under the system of University of California which ranks fifth in the list of top 10 overall engineering universities. It is one of the 14 founding members who developed the Association of American Universities and has produced ninety-nine Nobel laureates, 14 Pulitzer prize winners and 23 Turing Award winners.
  •  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and University of Oxford, UK are ranked together at number 6. Nanyang Technological University, also popularly called NTU is a young university and has been ranked the best young university for consecutive five years. NTU is also ranked to be the top university in the world for their contribution towards citations in the field of artificial intelligence. University of Oxford in the United Kingdom is so old that its foundation date is unknown and it is considered that Oxford has been imparting education since the 11th century.

It is the oldest English-speaking University. Responsible for gifting mankind with laureates like Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins, Oxford is still one of the top universities. Oxford has a record of producing 120 Olympic medalists, 26 Nobel Prize winners, 30 modern world leaders and 7 poet laureates.

  • Imperial College, London and National University of Singapore are ranked together at number 8. Imperial College is only one of the very few colleges in the world that focusses just on engineering, business, science and medicine. With 59% of diverse students from across the world, Imperial College is one of the most international universities. Singapore’s flagship institution – National University of Singapore focusses on multidisciplinary cross-linked education and research based approach for education.
  • Tsinghua University of China is the tenth best university in the world to pursue engineering. Ranked among the top 10 universities for both engineering and computer science, Tsinghua University is also the best university in China.

What are the top universities for chemical engineering?

Chemical engineering is a branch of engineering based on the principles of chemistry but intertwined with principles of physics, mathematics and biology as well to utilize, produce and transport chemicals and energy.

The top five chemical engineering universities are –

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  2. Stanford University
  3. University of California, Berkeley
  4. University of Cambridge
  5. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Among 300 universities offering the course of chemical engineering, these are the best five to get a degree from. The general trend shows that there are 70 universities from the United States featuring in this list of 300 universities. Among these 70, 18 universities feature in the top 50. China is the next with representation of 26 universities. China’s famous Tsinghua University ranks 11 in this list. The United Kingdom contributes 19 best chemical engineering schools. Out of these 19, 5 are included among the top 50.

What are the top universities for civil and structural engineering?

Civil and structural engineering deals with evaluation and construction of design for architectural elements. They include structures like bridges, highways, flyovers, tunnels and other offshore structures.

The top five universities to pursue civil and structural engineering are –

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  2. National University of Singapore
  3. University of California, Berkeley
  4. Delft University of Technology
  5. University of Cambridge

Massachusetts Institute of Technology popularly known as MIT takes the lead in the field of civil and structural engineering too. Out of 200 universities listed while assessing and evaluating the best, 36 universities are from the United States. When compared to the best universities for civil and structural engineering of 2018, University of California, Berkeley has climbed four spots to become the third best university in the world.

Canada is also highly represented among these 200 universities, with a count of 10 universities with University of British Columbia ranked at 30th. Australia has a representation of 14 universities with University of New South Wales ranked at 12th. Singapore is the more consistent in terms of its two representatives and both are listed among the top 10 civil and structural engineering universities.

What are the top universities for electrical engineering?

Electrical engineering is a branch of engineering focusing on telecommunications and mobile engineering.

The best universities for electrical engineering are –

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  2. Stanford University
  3. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
  4. University of California, Berkeley
  5. University of Cambridge

With over 500 universities making it to the best electrical engineering universities across the world, 84 are from the United States. Among these 84 universities, 16 universities feature in the top 50 of the list. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology jumped up eight spots to be ranked third in this year’s list.

What are the top universities for mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering?

Three different branches of engineering based on the principles of physics and mathematics are clubbed together for rating the works best universities. Though mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering are very different from each other, they are often clubbed together because all three are based on the common principles of physics and mathematics.

The top universities for pursuing mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering are –

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  2. Stanford University
  3. University of Cambridge
  4. Delft University of Technology
  5. Harvard University

MIT is yet again at the top of the list for the best universities for mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering which consists of 500 schools from all over the world. The ranking is dominated by the United States, comprising almost 18% of the total list that counts for 90 universities. 13 Of the 90 universities from the United States are in the top 50. Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology has made a huge jump of nine places to be ranked at fourth this year.

What are the top universities for mineral and mining engineering?

With the demand for energy sources increasing indefinitely, the demand for mineral and mining engineers are also on the rise. More students are pursuing this branch of engineering with the hope of lading up with a lucrative job opportunity at the completion of the degree.

The top universities for mineral and mining engineering are –

  1. Colorado School of Mines
  2. Curtin University
  3. McGill University
  4. The University of Western Australia
  5. The University of Queensland

First introduced in the ranking system in the year 2016, mineral and mining engineering is a comparatively new list introduced in the system. It covers only 50 universities and is the smallest list of engineering ranking. The list has been continually topped by the Colorado School of Mines of the United States every year. It’s the same this year too. Australia has an incredible performance in this field with four universities in the top 10.

With an idea of the different branches of engineering, a student must first decide what inspires him and which field of engineering he/she wants to follow. Only once this decision is made, a student can choose the university to opt for depending on its ranking, course structure, future opportunities as well as the grades the students score in their examinations.

It is always advisable for a student to get enrolled in a university listed under top 50 only because it provides an assurance about the future of the student. A student can either follow higher studies and end up doing research or opt for a job opportunity after completing the degree of engineering. Getting enrolled in a university listed under top 50 ensures better opportunities for future endeavors – be it research or job.

So, a student must prepare well in advance, choose a university and prepare depending on the educational qualifications requirements of that particular university and while choosing the university, a student must refer to the current ranking system of engineering universities across the world, as there are changes every year and new universities make it to the top and opens doors for students.

The ranking changes almost every year as each year, universities perform differently and it impacts their ranking. So, a student must refer to the ranking list of the current year and not previous year’s while choosing a university to apply to.

Author Bio:

Nancie L Beckett is a graduate from Harvard Business School. After completing her MBA degree, she devoted her time for almost 6 years in different top business firms all over the world and finally has settled with a keen interest of influencing and helping students to follow her path and become successfully. She has set up a school where she teaches students and her courses are made available online too, for helping guiding students across the world.

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