Because the increased demands for safety, capacity, and reliability require development of new engineering technologies, CN has invested in one of the top engineering schools in the United States, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to establish the CN Fellowships in Railroad Engineering. The university's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is home to the Railroad Engineering Program.

"CN's support for this nationally known railroad engineering program shows vision and foresight."
--Congressman Tim Johnson,
15th District of Illinois