Switching from academia to industry-software I am an associate professor at a university in the US and I teach Computer Science. I am feeling stuck in my career and want to switch to industry. I have given many interviews but they only ask for programming and they consider me for only similar jobs (the same kind that my own students are being considered for). With my experience managing several student projects at the university I feel that I can do a lot more than just write code. I have so many ideas but I feel frustrated that nobody is willing to give a chance. 

Anybody here switch from academia to industry successfully? any pointers?
If your primary goal is to be a software engineer, then I think the first problem you might be having is that you are defining "successfully" transitioning as you getting an offer that is at a higher rank than those of your students. If your goal is to be a software engineer, then taking a position that is close in rank to those of your students is not you being "unsuccessful". Also, your downplaying the importance of making the shift by thinking that "just writing code" is a bad thing. 
If your life goal is to be in industry, dont look for others who have similar stories as yours : Instead, define your own story. Make YOUR dreams come true. Nobody has the same story as you, so go out and make the change now if thats what you want in life! 
Its much better to accept a position that is at a same rank as your students TODAY, than to wait until its too late, just because you dont think its fair. Life is filled with trade-offs. 
If you are a competent professor, then youll be a competent engineer, and youll eventually transition to a position of the rank you deserve. Its that simple.