It currently grants bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in a variety of engineering and applied science fields, and is the third largest undergraduate college at Cornell by student enrollment.

The college offers over 450 engineering courses, and has an annual research budget exceeding US$112 million.

In the 1950s the college moved to the southern end of Cornell's campus to form The Engineering Quadrangle.

Cornell continued to operate its on-campus nuclear reactor as a research facility following the close of the program.

Presently, there are teams that compete in the Baja SAE,[3] Automotive X-Prize (see Cornell 100+ MPG Team[4]), UNP Satellite Program,[5] DARPA Grand Challenge, AUVSI Unmanned Aerial Systems and Underwater Vehicle Competition, Formula SAE, RoboCup, Solar Decathlon, Genetically Engineered Machines, and others.

[11][2] The Engineering Quad was designed in the 1940s and 1950s on a site previously occupied by the Old Armory and faculty housing, using a master plan developed by the Perkins and Will firm.

In 2004, relandscaping with a design inspired by Cascadilla Gorge was completed and its landmark sundial was restored to its rightful place on the quad (after having been stored in Upson Hall during the construction period).

Also, modern and open collaborative working spaces were introduced with the construction of a large atrium connecting Duffield, which houses research and teaching facilities for nanoscale science and engineering, with Phillips and Upson (1956)[13] Halls.

The edge of northern face of the quad, mostly open space, is lined with trees along Campus Road.

Across Campus Road is Franklin W. Olin Jr. Hall (1942), home of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

The building, funded in part by a $25 million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is located across Campus Road from Barton Hall and east of Phillips Hall, across Hoy Road, on the site of a parking lot for Hoy Field and Grumman Squash Courts.

The 100,000 square foot building was designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Thom Mayne.