Goal: To foster innovative and creative thinking in the curricula of Engineering schools, as well as other technology-based courses, contributing to the innovation ecosystems' growth and sustainability. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research was structured as an exploratory research and was conducted by means of a focus group comprised of representatives from Porto Alegre (RS) working directly with higher education and/or playing key roles within the city's innovation ecosystem. The group's discussion was analyzed along with current literature on the topic. Results: The paper provides insightful perceptions of the obstacles faced by faculty members when attempting to develop innovative methodologies within classes so that potential partnerships are fostered by agents of the innovation ecosystem in order to better prepare professionals that will later be inserted in this new innovative scenario. Limitations of the investigation:The present study is structured as an exploratory research based on a focus group discussion and analysis. Thus, as any qualitative approach, it might lack generalizability, once its purpose is to investigate a specific phenomenon and promote further investigation on the issue. However, all discussion from the focus group was analyzed and supported by extant literature on the topic, in order to mitigate such limitation and strengthen the research relevance. Practical implications: The analysis and discussion obtained from both the focus group and literature are imperative on the need of critical changes on universities' organizational culture to support entrepreneurial activities, as well as fostering partnerships with key agents within innovation ecosystems to better prepare professionals to the new market setting. Originality/value: Although some studies investigate the relationship involving universities and Science and Technology Parks, few studies explore how engineering schools' curricula can benefit from such alliances. Additionally, the present study lists a few hurdles faced by professors during the development of active-based practices, as well as alternative possibilities to overcome resistance in traditional courses.

Paper aims: The present paper aims at exploring aspects of the mentoring process within the practice of technology entrepreneurship, also postulating a new concept, the lean mentorship.Originality: Although literature examines the effects and nature of mentoring in a variety of contexts, this study pioneers by addressing the mentorship process from the lean startup perspective. Research method:The study was structured as an exploratory research, drawing on extant literature and a focus group comprised of scholars and practitioners with key roles within an entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. The group's discussion was analyzed along with extant literature. Main findings:The paper further debates and provides insightful perceptions of the key characteristics of the mentorship process, such as the roles of mentors and mentees, the differences and similarities with coaching, and aspects mentorship providers should consider before exposing entrepreneurs. Implications for theory and practice:The main practical and theoretical contributions of this research are exactly the pioneering nature with regard to the lean startup perspective concerning mentoring. Additionally, conclusions suggests that mentoring providers should engage in experimentations to identify the moment in which entrepreneurs will best benefit from the provision, also mitigating waste of resources, such as time and expenses.

This study analyzes the feasibility of using steel-concrete bond tests for determining the compressive strength of concrete in order to use it as a complement in the quality control of reinforced concrete. Lorrain and Barbosa (2008) 14] and Lorrain et al. (2011) 15] justify the use of a modified bond test, termed APULOT, to estimate the compressive strength of concrete, hence increasing the possibilities for the technological control of reinforced concrete for constructions. They propose an adaptation of the traditional pull-out test (POT) method, standardized by the CEB / FIP RC6: 1983 8], because it is a low complexity and low cost test. To enable the use of the APULOT test as a technological control test of concrete at construction sites requires determining its methodology and adapting the experimental laboratory practice to the construction itself. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of conducting compressive strength estimates using bond stress data obtained by the traditional pull-out tests (POT). Thus, two concrete compositions of different classes were tested at 3, 7 and 28 days. Ribbed bar specimens (nominal diameters of 8, 10 and 12.5 mm) were also used in the preparation stage, totaling 108 POT tests. The results show that the correlation between the maximum bond stress and the compressive strength of concrete is satisfactory in predetermined cases, at all ages tested, reinforcing the purpose of consolidating this test as a complementary alternative to control the quality of reinforced concrete. In the second part of this paper the test results obtained with the APULOT method are presented and discussed.

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