Work-in-Progress: Engineers Transitioning from an Industrial Position to Full-time Academic Position in an Engineering College

Abstract

This Work-in-Progress paper presents some unique challenges an engineer may face in transitioning to a full-time academic position into an ABET-accredited College of Engineering from an industry position, and the findings are based on survey of a limited number of faculty who have made this transition. The intent of the effort presented in this paper is to lay the foundation for a more extensive future survey of the unique challenges the professionals face in making this career change, and to obtain feedback from other engineering faculty in the US who view this transition as a unique challenge. The authors' personal experience indicates that this transition involves factors beyond the adjustment to teaching as a primary activity, including aspects such as rethinking one's client base, adjusting to research in an academic environment as compared to an industrial environment, and managing numerous goals and time demands posed from various university sources. The survey results indicated a number of similarities amongst the nine respondents, as well as a few unexpected results that are discussed in this paper. These results, along with discussions that will arise from the presentation of this paper at the conference, will serve our future expansion and development and dissemination of this survey that targets faculty in Hispanic-serving institutions.