Jesse Delgado Keeps Calm & Carries On

With more than 40 years of inspection experience, Jesse Delgado has become one of the most respected voices in the nuclear power industry. He helped develop Phased Array Sectorial Scanning (PASS®), a game-changing innovation that allows complete examination of valves — without disassembly. As our Director of Sales, Jesse helps connect customers to non-destructive solutions that enhance safety and value at nuclear power plants across North America.

Over a career that spans 40 years (and counting), Jesse Delgado’s inspection expertise has helped make the nuclear power industry safer. And if his mild manner could be bottled, the world would be a calmer place, too.

“There are times in the nuclear world when inspection results can create a lot of stress. I’ve been told that I have a calming presence. Over the years, that has helped when I needed to communicate problems to the customer,” says Jesse. “I’m naturally a quiet and reserved type of person; I just don’t get too excited. You have to stay focused and present the issue — and hopefully provide a solution as well.”

That enviable trait has served Jesse well throughout his career in the nuclear industry — a journey that began in 1981 when he joined Southwest Research Institute. Inspired by a combination of technical interest and wanderlust, Jesse began working and training as an inspector.

“The opportunity to travel was very attractive to me when I was young,” says Jesse, who estimates he spent 80% of his time on the road in the 1980s and ‘90s. He counts Japan and Brazil among his favorite destinations in a lifetime of globe-trotting.

In 1999, the nuclear inspection department where he worked was sold and became IHI Southwest Technologies, which was later acquired by Industrial Inspection & Analysis in 2020. Today, as Sales Director of IIA Nuclear Services, Jesse leverages a lifetime of inspection experience and a sprawling network of industry contacts.

“My job is to identify opportunities to connect our technologies to the customer,” says Jesse.

Among those technologies is one he helped develop: Phased Array Sectorial Scanning (PASS®), a game-changing innovation that allows non-intrusive testing of valves — without disassembly.

“Valve disassembly is very costly, and time consuming. In addition, valve disassemblies require the systems to be placed in an at-risk condition. The PASS system allows us to provide detailed testing data which supports the valve’s operability status and the customer’s decision to eliminate or defer valve disassemblies. We’ve inspected very small 1-inch valves, up to 36-inch valves, and all sizes in between. It provides our clients a high-value technology that allows for a reduction in operating cost,” says Jesse, who considers this contribution a highlight of his career. “It’s been around for a while, but PASS remains an innovation – even today. When new engineers first hear about it, they get excited about its value to the maintenance programs they are responsible for.”

Quiet he may be, but Jesse Delgado has become an influential voice in the industry and a popular speaker at industry events. While he enjoys connecting with colleagues, these days he savors time spent at home in San Antonio (and the occasional round of golf).

“I’ve traveled so much over the years that staying home has become more important to me,” he says. “But I do enjoy golf — that’s one of my hobbies. I’ll get out once a month or so to pretend I’m a good golfer.”

Beyond the challenges he finds on the golf course, Jesse continues to welcome the challenges inherent in inspection work.

“In the world of inspections, every project brings a different set of challenges, and that’s what makes it interesting,” says Jesse. “It’s been very satisfying to work in this industry. I don’t know that I could do the same thing every day.”