Waterloo Engineering made a significant jump in the 2026 world subject rankings announced today by global education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
In the broad category of engineering and technology, one of five used by QS to group 55 more specific subject areas, Waterloo climbed to 38th place – up from 47th last year - in a field of more than 1,900 universities.
The annual rankings are based on combined measures of academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations and research impact
The engineering and technology category included eight subjects, six of which have equivalents or close equivalents at the University of Waterloo.
Electrical and electronics engineering (30th), computer science and information systems (27th), and data science and artificial intelligence (40th) all cracked the top 50.
Chemical engineering (89th), mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering (65th), and civil and structural engineering (51st-100th) were ranked in the top 100.
Architecture and built environment, which was included in a different broad category – arts and humanities – also ranked in the 51-100 band. Other engineering disciplines at Waterloo weren’t part of the rankings.