He is the University of Texas RGV Outstanding Engineer of 2019
As originally published in Texas Border Business newsprint edition March 2019
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
A grand celebration took place on February 22, 2019, for the inaugural Outstanding Engineer Award for Professional Achievement and Impact in the Rio Grande Valley. The award was created for an engineering leader and also a role model for students and future engineers of UTRGV, a great educational institution. The department of engineering made an effort to give this award to someone who has been successful professionally but is also making a difference in communities in the Valley.
Ala Qubbaj, Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, told Texas Border Business, “No one deserves this award more than Juan Delgado.” He went on to say, that Juan, being the older of four brothers, was the first one in the family to come to the United States from Mexico in 1995. He came in search of better educational and life opportunities for his family and for himself. Late in 1995, he registered at UTPA to pursue a bachelor’s in electrical engineering.
Juan helped the rest of his brothers to be successful. “He made a difference in his own family’s life, to begin with, and later on in his community as an engineer, leader, and executive at Nobel Texas Builders,” Dean Qubbaj said. “I am super proud of Juan, his passion, dedication, leadership, and success are remarkable! He is an inspiration to all of us and to the kids – future engineers – in South Texas. His success story reflects on our success as a college of engineering at UTRGV.”
The celebration of the National Engineers Week (E-Week), February 18 – 22, 2019 went well, with a variety of activities for K-12, UTRGV college students, and the community. It included an Innovation Challenge and Girls Day for K-12, as well as an Innovaqueros Challenge, a Career Development Day, and an E-Cup competition for college students.
Over 700 K-12 kids, including over 300 girls, from over 20 school districts in the Rio Grande Valley participated in these activities in addition to several hundreds of college students.
The week concluded with 2 recognition ceremonies in Edinburg and Brownsville, where winners were recognized in innovation challenges, outstanding students for their academic achievement, spotlight students and graduates for their successes, educators for inspiring students, as well as local engineers for making a difference in these communities.
Rene Capistran, President and Chief Executive for Noble Texas Builders was present, and through a video played for the audience, he said the following: “Engineers create and resolve many complex problems that we have in our community… We are a construction business, and we take great pride to build a facility from the ground up. We have engineers that work with the designed facilities, and then we have engineers that work with the project managers. With their vast knowledge of construction, they come in, roll up their sleeves, and they help solve very complicated problems that arise in any project that we are part of.
Juan Delgado and I go back many years, we worked together at another firm and he has this smile and demeanor and professionalism. He’s got this infectious personality that you just want to be near him because he wants to help everybody, and I knew that character was something we needed. A few years ago, we started our firm, and Juan Delgado joined a year after. We knew Juan was going to be a great fit, he is a graduate of UTRGV. He is from the Valley and brings his experience level and his ability to jump in and help us solve complex problems.”
Dean Qubbaj said that over the years, first as an interim and now as the dean, he has had, “the honor to know the whole Delgado family, the parents, the brothers: Jose, Eric, Adrian, and their amazing and charming sister, Veronica. I always joke with her that she made a mistake by not being an engineer, and I also met their kids. What a great and loving family! We are blessed to have them as part of our college.”
Juan Delgado is a Project Executive with Noble Texas Builders. He ensures system continuity within all construction projects in the Rio Grande Valley. He also coordinates with Project Managers and Superintendents during construction to ensure projects are meeting contractual schedules and stay within budget. Juan meets with owners at the building project at all phases of development to ensure their expectations are being met.
