"And from action. Avoid professions in which you will have to think and think and think, with never a chance to do. Better be a carpenter cutting sweet-smelling lumber under the sun, and watching things grow with every stroke of the hammer, than to add debits and credits from day to day, or ponder, in some lonely flat, new arguments for the reality of the external world."
- Will Durant, (1953). The pleasures of philosophy: a survey of human life and destiny. Simon & Schuster, Pg. 185
While I think doing original research that expands the frontiers of human knowledge (even for a tiny bit!) is at the core of my work as an academic, I have always appreciated teaching, as “a chance to do” for a university professor. One might find this opening quote from Will Durant to be shocking, particularly because he was a philosopher, not a carpenter! But I find it plausible: The more we think, the more we worry about whether or not "our chance to do" has ever existed or would ever arrive. I have always cherished teaching, mentoring, and student supervision (including supervision of student-led research!) as my "chance to do" and an opportunity to grow. I’m passionate about engaging with students work and I also find the results totally rewarding.
A Glimpse into My Student Research Supervision, Startup & Mentoring Experience
I have co-supervised four master’s theses (MBA projects as well as MRes in Management/ Policy) at the Sharif University of Technology (topics strictly in my areas, e.g., Technology and Innovation Management / Policy) and another eleven Capstone projects by students of Master's in International Business at London South Bank Univeristy (topics are free range, from AI in business to digital marketing and the financial regulatory problems in English football!).
As to the four projects at the Sharif University of Technology, one of them built on my own PhD dissertation and explored how the #depth and #breadth of #technological #knowledge are distinct from but contribute to a firm's #technology #diversity. This work has already been published (in print, 2024) as a scholarly paper in R&D Management (ABS 3*, ABDC A). Another work is under the 2nd round of Revise and Resubmit at Technovation (ABS 3*, ABDC A) and studies the nuances of how healthcare innovation is related to reducing the burden of diseases in different countries. Yet a third (working) paper, is what I presented last year at the R&D Management 2023 Conference in Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain, and deals with #depth and #breadth of #technological #knowledge in the setting of the biopharma industry, similar to a fourth paper (work-in-progress) which relates #depth and #breadth of #technological #knowledge to firm #performance.
I’m also an Innovation Advisor at MedicAI (www.medicai.tech), a startup team of young researchers that use AI to explore medical applications, including the diagnosis of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases using only the patient’s chest X-ray.
Another example of student supervision, among many, is from 2018 and a team of four Spanish students at my Organizational Behavior class at UC3M, Madrid. Under my supervision, these hardworking talents won the first prize in the annual UC3M – Ernst & Young student competition: “Best Practices in People’s Management” among almost 800 students (here is our photo on the EY Careers page).
My team of 4 students won the EY contest, among almost 800 students at Carlos III University of Madrid, 2018