Professor Daniel and his passion for science

Las Tunas. – 20 minutes of conversation with Professor M. Sc. Daniel Rodríguez Peña is enough to understand that he loves science and that he feels at home in the crowded spaces of the Center for Studies on Energy Efficiency and Technological Operations (CEEPROT). As if it were her greatest treasure, she shows you, still paper-wrapped and wrapped in nylon, the expensive equipment that will be part of the Renewable Energy Laboratories at the University of Las Tunas.

“We already have all the equipment in the institution and this constitutes one of the most important results of the international RENERT project with the Principality of Monaco, approved in May 2018. The laboratories will occupy three buildings of the Postgraduate House and will begin to be assembled in January, after the specialists come from the Spanish company Edibon ( manufacturer) for assembly and training in operating the equipment,” explains the CEEPROT director and project leader.
“We have a Francis hydraulic turbine simulator with SCADA automatic control, solar heater simulators, wind energy, biogas, photovoltaic panel and real wind turbines, all of which are automated and controlled by computers. The equipment will be initially assembled in laboratories, until construction is done from a center Development and training of renewable energy at the university, which is supposed to start in December, because the project and investment have already been approved and we have all the material resources in the institution.”
– For what purpose is it proposed to establish this Renewable Energy Training and Development Center at the University of Las Tunas?
With the aim of promoting the development and use of renewable energy, train everyone who needs it, whether they are government employees, companies, individuals or students. Professors and CEPROT collaborators from other provinces who have been included in the project will work in this center, from the Universities of Oriente, Moa, Las Villas and Cienfuegos. This won’t be an illustration center, the science will be done here.”
He interrupts the interview, gets up from his seat, reveals a glass bowl and invites you to try, so you can watch CEPROT’s other accomplishments: dried fruits.
-what is he talking about? I asked him.
“Food can be preserved in different ways. How do we keep them at home? We basically put them in the freezer, dry them with salt or make them sweet, but all of these methods are expensive, waste energy or can be aggressive to health when we use extra salt or sugar. What we are proposing is sun drying. It is a procedure widely used in the world due to its durability and health, as well as the fact that the food preserves all its properties, vitamins, oils and flavor.”
“Together with the Renewable Energy Development and Training Center, with the project, we also intend to build a drying house with local materials, and this is one of our other goals: not to import something practical, but to take advantage of the potential of the region. That is why we are making alliances with companies in the province such as Structures Metallic ( METUNAS), Producciones Metálicas (DURALMET) and the Logistics Business Group of the Ministry of Agriculture (GELMA), and more companies should join as the project progresses.”
The interview ends and then invites you to tour the study center and future laboratory buildings and explains in detail how the equipment works. Make what was previously completely unknown to you become familiar and you will remain with a desire to return, to learn more from Professor Daniel and his staff who are, without a doubt, on the right track with the scientific development of the region.