University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

The University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore (UET Lahore) is a public university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan specializing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. It is the oldest and one of the most selective engineering institutions in Pakistan. Every year around 40,000 candidates appear in ECAT while there are around 3,045 fully subsidized (A1 & A1-M) and partially subsidized (A2 and A2-M) seats available in UET Lahore and its campuses, making a selection ratio of 7.6% in ECAT based disciplines.
Founded on 1 January 1921 in Mughalpura, a suburban area of Lahore, as Mughalpura Technical College, it later became the MacLagan Engineering College, a name given to it in 1923 after Sir Edward Douglas MacLagan, the then Governor of Punjab, who laid the foundation stone of the main building, now called the Main Block. In 1929, it was affiliated with the University of Punjab for the award of bachelor's degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering. In 1939, the name was again changed to Punjab College of Engineering and Technology, and a Civil Engineering degree was also started in the college. At the time of partition, part of the college relocated to India, called East Punjab College of Engineering. In 1954, a bachelor's degree program in mining engineering was started. In 1962, it was granted a charter and was named the West Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. During the 1960s, bachelor's degree programs were started in chemical engineering, petroleum and gas engineering, metallurgical engineering, architecture and city and regional planning. In 1972, it was officially renamed the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. By the 1970s, it had established a score of master's degree programs in engineering, architecture, city and regional planning and allied disciplines. Several Ph.D. degree programs were also started.
A second campus of the university was established in 1975 in Sahiwal, which was relocated to Taxila in 1978 and became an independent university in 1993 called the University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila.
Today, it is widely considered one of the best and most prestigious engineering universities in Pakistan. More than 50,000 students apply for admission every year.
The university, as of 2016, had a faculty of 881, 257 of whom had doctorates. It had a total of 9,385 undergraduate and 1,708 postgraduate students.
It has a strong collaboration with the University of South Carolina, University of Manchester and Queen Mary University of London, and has conducted research funded by Huawei, Cavium Networks, Microsoft and MontaVista.
It is one of the highest ranked universities in Pakistan. Domestic rankings place it as the third-best engineering school in Pakistan, while QS World University Ranking put it as 236th in the world in the category of Engineering & Technology in 2024. It was ranked 101-150 in the category of Petroleum Engineering, 201-250 in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, 251-300 in Mechanical Engineering, 351-400 in Chemical Engineering, and 401-450 in Computer Science & Information Systems in the world by the same publication in 2024. Meanwhile, in Asia the university ranking is currently ranked at No. 165.
As of 2023, Computer Science is the highest-merit and most sought-after discipline at UET Lahore (at the undergraduate level).
The government of Punjab commemorated the 100th anniversary of UET by issuing a commemorative coin and a postage stamp in January 2022.
The campus is situated on the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road), a few kilometers from the Mughal era Shalimar Gardens.
The university consists of the following research centers:
More than 870 students are foreign students and more than 1000 are female students.
The faculty consists of 741 people, including 14 international faculty members; around 122 have doctoral degrees. Its faculty holds one Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, one Sitara-i-Imtiaz, one Izaz-e-Kamal Presidential Award and nine HEC Best Teacher Awards.
The university has established a Directorate of Research, Extension and Advisory Services which strives for the promotion and organization of research activities. The Al-Khwarizmi Institute of Computer Sciences is a notable name in Pakistan's research activity in computer sciences.
The university has a sports complex, consisting of a swimming pool, tennis court, table tennis court, squash court, and a cricket stadium used for athletics. The university has several football grounds. Apart from sports-related facilities, there are societies to promote co-curricular activities and seminars.
The National Library of Engineering Science, inaugurated by Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, is the central library of the university. It is a three-story building in front of Allah Hu Chowk. It has a seating capacity of 400 readers. Its collection holds more than 125,000 volumes of books, 22,000 volumes of bound serials, and 600 issues of scientific and technical serials in diverse fields.
The library was recently chosen by the Higher Education Commission to serve as the primary resource center for engineering and technical education.