CEO as a Professor: A Connection Perspective Between Theory and Practice in Engineering Programs

This Work-In-Progress paper focuses on the engineering entrepreneurship program at a university in southwestern Texas with the participation of professors who were senior executives in relevant USA companies. We describe the teaching and practice process characterizing the Aristotelian Praxis and a structure to conduct ethnographic research. An uncommon methodology in engineering, ethnography has presented promising possibilities when it is desired to analyze spontaneous behaviors, cultures, and personal impressions of the researched. The research, still under development, involved approximately 60 students and five professors and had its data collected over a year. The student's perception of the classes conducted by professors was recorded as partial results, in addition to seeking to understand the reasons that led these successful executives to become professors. The research continues to investigate the impacts of this new profile of teachers on students who have already graduated.