Acevedo, Diego

Position / Title

Senior Lecturer SISSTEM / Program Coordinator of SISSTEM Bachelor

ORCID

Fields of Specialization

Valorization Strategies
Technology Assessment
Separation Technology
Sustainable Energy on Island Nations
Industrial Ecological Systems with Multiple-input and Multiple-outs
Strategies Towards Development of a Circular Economy in the Dutch Caribbean and Broader Caribbean
Entrepreneurship

Last updated July 8, 2025

Biography

Diego Acevedo is a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of Aruba. His research is focused on the Valorization of Reverse Osmosis Brines, in essence looking at the economic value that the brine left over from the desalination process with a specific focus on the value for small islands dependent on desalination systems. Diego holds a BSc degree in Mechanical Engineering (magna cum laude) from the University of Florida and a MSc degree in Sustainable Energy Technologies from TU Delft (The Netherlands). He has previously worked on the development of innovative technological solutions related to marine energy, district cooling networks, potable water generation, and marine-based floating solar PV electricity generation. Some highlights of his work include being the founder of Eneda Engineering Services VBA, an Engineering Consultancy firm focused on Renewable Energy and Circular Economy with a special focus on Marine and Island solutions; and being co-founder of Bluerise BV, now part of Allseas Engineering BV, working on Ocean Thermal Energy Technology development.

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10

Education for Sustainable Development in Small Island States at the University of Aruba: Practice and Evaluation.
(SOE Biennale Revolutionizing Caribbean Education, Cultivating Critical Competencies in a Shifting Landscap. UWI-Mona, 2024-07-10) Mijts, Eric; Acevedo, Diego; de Scisciolo, Tobia; John, Nigel; Mertens, Anouk; Mijts, Eric; Acevedo, Diego; Mertens, Anouk; de Scisciolo, Tobia
This panel will focus on different approaches at the University of Aruba for capacity building for internal resilience of small island states and the way in which the creation of a critical mass of local higher educated experts that can create contextually relevant and locally accepted solutions will highly contribute to the resilience of these states. Building upon three papers that will be presented by the panel participants, we will demonstrate that it is necessary and possible to develop and implement impactful programs for Education for Sustainable Development in Small Island States, going beyond the focus on cognitive skills and knowledge. The panelists will present approaches to education in Aruba that stimulate critical sustainability thinking (the Academic Foundation Year, and the Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics programs (SISSTEM)). Second, they will demonstrate how the modules within these programs address and affect sustainability thinking and student attitudes toward sustainability. They will also elaborate on the founding principles and evaluation of these programs utilising the EU GreenComp framework. Altogether, the panel aims to demonstrate that despite the global nature of the challenges we face, contextual embeddedness and recognition of local characteristics and local adoption of sustainability thinking are key to building resilient societies.
Valorization of Reverse Osmosis Brines in Small Islands
(KU Leuven, 2024) Acevedo, Diego
Dutch Caribbean Research Week 2024 - Aruba, 27 November
(2024-11-27) Abarkan, Abida; Acevedo, Diego; Bonnevalle-Kok, Ruth; de Droog, Mieke; Grêaux, Kimberly; John, Nigel; López Márquez, Violeta; Meijer, Hannah; Mertens, Anouk; Mijts, Eric; Sultan, Salys
Contributions by University of Aruba researchers to the Dutch Caribbean Research week 2024 (20-27 November). Individual contributions can also be found via: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1213 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1423 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1390 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1425 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1426 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1427 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1323 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1422
UA Research & Expertise - Diego Acevedo
(2024) Acevedo, Diego
Sustainable Island Futures VII
(2024-12-11) Acevedo, Diego; Mijts, Eric; John, Nigel; Singh, Simron
A Symposium co-hosted by SISSTEM at the University of Aruba, the Islands section of the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE), & the Metabolism of Islands (MoI). The theme of this upcoming event is Coastal Interactions/Oceans. Small island states are characterized by a strong dependency on external resources to meet their basic needs which highly contributes to the vulnerability of these territories. The approaches to increase resource security and self-reliance in small island states need to be carefully redesigned considering context-specific challenges and opportunities. At the same time, in order to achieve sustainability and build system resilience, holistic approaches need to be favored over narrow agendas. Several research collaborations are ongoing to address these challenges, such as the Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (SISSTEM) program at the University of Aruba, and the Metabolism of Islands (MoI) research program. These bring together researchers from a dozen universities that are concerned about sustainable futures for small islands throughout the world. This multidisciplinary symposium aims to bring together emerging scholars to exchange ideas and approaches for a sustainability transformation in small island states and to foster interdisciplinary and interinstitutional collaboration. We invite graduate students, Ph.D. candidates, and post-doctoral researchers to submit abstracts for this online event. Proposals can center on research design, contextualization of methodologies, theoretical frameworks or research outcomes on resource circularity, island metabolism, industrial ecology, sociometabolic research, islandness or on threats and opportunities that hinder or further sustainable development and resilience of small island states. Abstract submission deadline: October 25, 2024 Confirmation of acceptance: November 11, 2024 Symposium date: December 11, 2024
Sustainable Island Solutions through STEM (SISSTEM) Lessons learnt, and the pathway forward
(11/27/2024) López Márquez, Violeta; Acevedo, Diego; Mijts, Eric; Mertens, Anouk; Sultan, Salys; John, Nigel
In 2019 the EDF-11 funded SISSTEM project started at the University of Aruba, an ambitious project in collaboration with the KU Leuven and with the support of UNDP to develop the facilities and programs for STEM education and research. In July 2024 the project implementation phase of the European funded part of SISSTEM was completed. In this contribution we will share the original intentions and the outcomes of the project, as well as an analysis of the critical success factors that contributed to the implementation of the project. The outcomes include two academic programs (BSc and MSc), a series of ongoing research projects, and a series of conferences and publications that contribute to the development of a critical mass of island researchers that support both local and global sustainability efforts and agendas. Throughout the implementation of the project a series of obstacles were identified, such as the complexities of international project management for small island development (including logistic and technical challenges), intercultural awareness management, expectation management, marketing/image management and the complexities of recruitment of students and academic staff to participate in pioneering programs.
Perspective in resource recovery from reverse osmosis brines: the case for sustainable seawater refineries for small islands
(Wiley, 2023) Acevedo, Diego; Mijts, Eric; John, Nigel; El Bouzidi, Mohamed; van der Bruggen, Bart
Reverse osmosis has become the dominant technique for desalination while at the same time there is a steady increase in reliance on desalination systems for water production globally. Resource recovery and mitigation of adverse effects from brine discharge are important factors and are increasingly being considered by researchers and industrial actors. The island nation of Aruba, with over 100 years of commercial desalination history, is used as a case study to illustrate the possibilities of shifting from centralized seawater desalination plants to seawater refineries in which freshwater is considered only one of the possible products. We identify possible economic value from desalination plants of medium scale (as is the case in Aruba) from the pro- duction of magnesium, caustic soda, chlorine-based products and rubidium and possible energy recovery possibilities through osmotic gradients and/or hydrogen storage while at the same time highlighting the insufficient potential for lithium harvesting from seawater desalination brines. We have found that the economic value from resources recovered from brine may be even larger than the value of the freshwater produced by these plants. Furthermore, reduction of salinity and quantity of brine can reduce the overall ecological impact from current brine effluent.
Sustainable Island Solutions through STEM
(2021-06) Mijts, Eric; van Veghel, Amber; Acevedo, Diego; Facun, Kryss
Diego Acevedo: Universidad di Aruba ta organisa conferencia di ciencia marina
(24Ora, 2025-05-19) Acevedo, Diego
https://24ora.com/diego-acevedo-universidad-di-aruba-ta-organisa-conferencia-di-ciencia-marina/ Universidad di Aruba, specificamente e facultad di SISSTEM (Sustainable Engineering) ta organisando un conferencia di ciencia marino unda cu lo ta treciendo expertonan internacional di ciencia marino pa papia tocante e tema. Den entrevista cu phd. Diego Acevedo, Program manager- SISSTEM, nos a puntra dicon a kies Aruba pa e conferencia. Segun Acevedo, Aruba ta un isla rondona di awa. P’esey a dicidi cu Aruba ta un ehempel perfecto pa papia over di e diferente problema cu e lama y su ecosistema maritimo ta enfrenta. E conferencia lo tuma luga di dia 26 pa 28 di mei proximo y por registra na www.icms-2025.com.
How island researchers navigate the wicked nature of small island research. A conversation continued
(2025-06) Mertens, Anouk; Acevedo, Diego; Arens, Patrick; Becker, Tatiana; Brinklow, Laurie; de Scisciolo, Tobia; Drew, Ryan; Facun, Kryss; Hall, Iain; Halliday, Andrew Mark; John, Nigel; López Márquez, Violeta; McDonald, Anne; Mitchell, Jean; Moncada, Stefano; Noll, Dominik; Richardson, Yolanda; Sultan, Salys; van Veghel, Amber; Werleman, Stephanie; Mijts, Eric
Small islands across the globe face the direct consequences of climate change and alarming biodiversity loss. In this context, islands and islanders are sometimes framed as a “litmus test” or “the ideal laboratory” for experiments to advise larger continental areas on how to address the effects of climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Due to the specific island context, islanders are the primary problem solvers in addressing and mitigating these challenges, and finding ways to adapt to them; however, in the first place, to protect their territories, populations, ecosystems, and cultures. It is therefore crucial and urgent to adopt and integrate inter- and transdisciplinary scientific knowledge embedded within the local contexts. Given their leadership role, island-centred research by the local island-based knowledge institutes and researchers is key. Island-centred research should play a pivotal role in generating contextualized knowledge and solutions, whether or not embedded in reciprocal international partnerships with other knowledge institutes. In this presentation, we will dive deeper into the island researchers’ operating space for such island-centred research, based on insights from semi-structured interviews and interactive sessions with island researchers from a wide range of contexts and disciplines. Our data reveal that despite the many challenges of conducting research from within the islands (incl. availability and accessibility of data, or technical and logistic challenges, funding, etc.), island researchers have found an array of ways to overcome these challenges and to produce valuable and impactful results for their societies and the rest of the world. This contribution aims to be a conversation starter amongst island researchers from insular and continental (institutional) contexts to further strengthen productive and equal collaborations in island-centred research.