Two College of Engineering staff members have earned Iowa Board of Regents Staff Excellence Awards.

They are Kelli Delfosse, director of professional development, and Carmen Langel, director of development and communications with IIHR–Hydroscience & Engineering and managing director of the Iowa Flood Center.

Delfosse has held several positions in Professional Development, starting as a student employee in 1999. Delfosse supervises and mentors peer advisors, and she serves as the “go-to” person for corporate partners, faculty, staff, and student organizations. She manages two engineering career fairs per year, manages the College of Engineering internship and cooperative education programs, and collaborates with faculty to integrate crucial professional development skills into the curriculum. Delfosse also organizes two to three Lunch and Learn sessions per week during the academic year, featuring alumni and company representatives who share their expertise and experiences with students. She also serves as an advisor to the Theta Tau engineering fraternity and works with almost 30 student organizations. Last year, she initiated an annual student recognition banquet with each engineering student organization represented; awards were presented in 15 categories.

Among Langel's duties are coordinating and submitting over 125 major grant and contract proposals per year, directing internal and external communications and outreach programs, budgeting for the Iowa Flood Center, and working closely with the IIHR and IFC directors on strategic planning and programmatic direction. This past year, Langel embraced the opportunity to be lead author for a major proposal to the Housing and Urban Development National Disaster Resiliency Competition on behalf of the State of Iowa, which was recently awarded over $96 million. Among her new outreach initiatives is the development of IIHR Currents, IIHR’s annual publication describing the institute’s research, education, and service programs. Langel has served as a thought leader at IIHR on several strategic initiatives to enhance graduate student recruitment and increase diversity in our student population, as well as to improve proposal development opportunities for faculty and research staff.

The Board of Regents, in cooperation with the staff councils of the five Regents institutions, annually recognizes staff for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the institutions as well as the State of Iowa.  The Regents Staff Excellence Awards were established in 1993 to provide a statewide forum to recognize staff members in conjunction with colleagues from the other Regents institutions.