Rate My Professor Peter Cebon

Peter Cebon is an Associate Professor of Leadership and Innovation in the Department of Mechanical Engineering within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne. He leads the Innovation Practice Program, which connects graduate degree candidates with corporate sponsors and experienced mentors to tackle real-world innovation challenges through offerings such as the Graduate Certificate in Innovation Practice and Professional Certificate in Innovation Practice. Cebon holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management (1995) and a B.E. (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne (1984). Prior to joining the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, he taught innovation management, innovation strategy, and organizational design at the Melbourne Business School for sixteen years until 2012. Before academia, he worked in consulting and industry.

Cebon's academic interests encompass engineering education, organizational governance, innovation commercialization, and leadership development. His recent research employs artificial intelligence tools to analyze student reflections, examining emotions via appraisal theory, growth mindsets for job-ready skills, identity transformation for employability, and large language models for peer feedback in assessments. Key publications include 'Analysing emotions in engineering students’ reflections using appraisal theory through an artificial intelligence tool' (with J. Hill et al., under review at European Journal of Engineering Education, 2025), 'Large Language Models and Peer Feedback: Integrating into Engineering Education' (conference paper, 2024), 'The role of mindsets in the acquisition of job-ready skills' (2024), and 'From Classroom to Career: Identity Transformation as a Key to Graduate Employability' (under review at Higher Education Research & Development, 2024). Earlier contributions feature editorship of 'Measured Success: Innovation Management in Australia' (Melbourne University Publishing, 2008), co-editorship of 'Views from the Alps: Regional Perspectives on Climate Change' (MIT Press, 1998), 'Director independence: Going beyond misaligned incentives to resource dependence' (2021), and 'The 3 company crises boards should watch for.' Under his direction, the Innovation Practice Program has garnered awards including three from Engineering Education Australia (2024), two Engagement Australia Excellence Awards (2023), and the FEIT Impact Award (2022), underscoring its contributions to pedagogy and industry collaboration.