Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Milbank
Civil Engineering ,
M.S. Engineering ,
Upon graduating from South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University with an M.S. degree, Delvin DeBoer worked as an environmental project engineer for RCM Associates in Hopkins Minnesota. He returned to SDSU in 1981, serving as an instructor in the Civil Engineering Department from 1981 to 1984. After receiving his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering in 1990 from Iowa State University, he returned to the SDSU Civil Engineering in 1987, teaching undergraduate and graduate environmental engineering courses and conducting research in water supply and treatment.
His research helped water systems respond to the new Safe Drinking Water Act regulations by implementing new treatment processes, optimizing existing treatment facilities and preserving water quality in distribution systems. Professor DeBoer advised 63 graduate students through completion of their theses and design papers. As a research facilitator, he held the position of director of the Water and Environmental Engineering Research Center from 2003 to 2012, developed the Regional Water System Research Consortium and directed its operations from 2007 to 2012.
He received SDSU’s à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã for Teaching Excellence in 1999, the Engineering College Academic Advisor of the Year in 2000 and the College of Engineering Distinguished Researcher à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã in 2011. His contributions to the water supply industry were recognized by receiving the AWWA George Warren Fuller à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã in 1992 and the AWWA Abel Wolman à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã of Excellence in 2013. He was named Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering upon his retirement from SDSU in 2012. He then continued his career as a a consultant with Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, specializing in water treatment system optimization and design.