High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign was first established in 1868, and is considered one of the original units of the school. The presence of a steam engine on the University`s seal is a good clue as to the importance of the engineering program to the University. Engineering at Illinois consistently ranks amongst the top five such engineering colleges in the United States by the U.S. News World Report and ranks amongst the top three in the world in the Academic Ranking of World Universities.