Engineer · Educator · Entrepreneur · Aruba
Ideas for islands that run on sun, sea and people.
I'm Diego Acevedo. I teach at the University of Aruba and have spent most of my career on energy, water and food for small islands. This is where I write down what I'm thinking about — essays, notes and half-finished ideas.
Latest writing
All writing →- A new home for ideas Why I rebuilt this site, and what you can expect to find here.
- A living wage for Aruba needs a labor-law deal Closing the gap between the minimum wage and the bestaansminimum is right — but only as part of a package that also reforms dismissal rules, sick leave, border taxes and rentals.
- Our desalination brine could be a magnesium mine Aruba pours about 60,000 m³ of brine into the sea every day, and my PhD research shows the magnesium in it could eventually become a cleaner export.
- Watering new trees with water from the air deserves a proper trial On paper, making water from air to keep new trees alive costs more than trucking it in, but too much is unknown to rule it out without field trials.
- The University of Florida wrote about our work in Aruba My alma mater's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department published a profile on SISSTEM, desalination brine and what engineers can learn from islands.
What I think about
Ocean & island energy
OTEC, seawater cooling and how tropical islands get to 100% renewable power.
Water & circularity
Desalination, brine, waste and closing loops on a small island.
Food systems
Growing more of what we eat — hydroponics, aquaculture and resilience.
Education & entrepreneurship
Teaching, students and building fun things from Aruba to the world.