<p>I don’t have online access to 2006 ranking but I found 2004/2005/2006 ranking by googling one discipline at a time and I found that the two schools are fairly even though Cornell probably has slightly better reputation overall:</p>
<p>Aerospace (2005):
Cornell: 9th
Northwestern: NR (no aerospace major)</p>
<p>Biomedical (2004):
Cornell: 38th
Northwestern: 12th</p>
<p>Chemical (2005):
Cornell: 18th
Northwestern: 13th</p>
<p>Computer Engg
Cornell: 8th (2005)
Northwestern: 17th (2006) </p>
<p>Environmental (2005):
Cornell: 10th
Northwestern: 11th</p>
<p>Electrical: (2006)
Cornell: 9th
Northwestern: 20th</p>
<p>Industrial (2005)
Cornell: >33th (not found on the list)
Northwestern: 7th</p>
<p>Material Science (2006)
Cornell: >10th
Northwestern: 2nd</p>
<p>Mechanical (2006):
Cornell: 10th
Northwestern: 10th</p>
<p>So in EE/CompE, Cornell is clearly better. But Northwestern is better in quite a few disciplines despite what people say based on heresay.</p>