Word or Phrase for someone who pushes others to their full potential

Catalyst ?

A substance that causes a chemical reaction to happen more quickly.

A person or event that quickly causes change or action.

M-W

We are forever in your debt. Your capacity to galvanize our hunger for knowledge is unparalleled and should we ever feel our endeavors have lead us astray, we need only reorientate ourselves back to true north, to you Professor X: our compass rose.

If it was a philosophy professor, I'd congratulate them on their ability to, "corrupt the young." Seeing as it's an EE professor, I think capacity and galvanize are appropriate, but you can melt any teacher's heart by calling them your compass rose.

Will coach do?
Coach is someone in charge of training an athlete or a team. In sport mostly it's about pushing the limit especially if you are an athlete. If you read Tuesdays With Morrie, the writer calls his professor as 'coach' because he views him as teacher of his life.

A motivator might fit:

a ​person or thing that makes someone enthusiastic about doing something:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/motivator