PEÑA CRUZ, MANUEL IGNACIO

Dr. Peña-Cruz obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Physics from the Autonomous University of Baja California in 2010. He obtained a Master's degree in 2012 and a PhD in 2015; both with Honorable Mention, by the Institute of Renewable Energies - UNAM. He closely supported the design and operation of the Central Receiver Experimental Field (CEToC), within the framework of project 123767 National Laboratory of Solar Concentration Systems and Solar Chemistry (LACYQS), promoted by CONACYT in Mexico. He has worked for the National Center for Renewable Energies (CENER) in Spain, in the development of characterization methodologies for solar concentrators to assess their quality and establish design regulations. In addition, he was awarded funding from the European Union's "Solar Facilities for the European Research Area" (SFERA) program, to carry out a research stay at the Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), in Rome, Italy.

In 2015, he joined the Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica, A.C.-Unidad Aguascalientes through the “Cátedras Para Jóvenes Investigadores - CONACYT” scheme and is a founding member of the Solar Energy Research and Engineering Group (GIIE-Sol) which is made up of seven researchers, engineers, specialized technicians, as well as postgraduate students and which carries out fundamental research projects, technological development and collaborations with the industry.

It currently has 27 publications in JCR indexed journals, more than 300 citations, 16 presentations at international and national conferences, 6 postgraduate graduates and 5 more in progress. He regularly teaches graduate level courses and has two patents pending.

He is a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI): Level I.