Michael Pierro is a current Postdoctoral Scholar in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department from the University of Central Florida, where he received his Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering bachelor’s degrees in 2020, his Aerospace Engineering master's degree in 2023, and his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering in 2025. He performs combustion diagnostic research at the High-Pressure Extended Range Shock Tube for Advanced Research laboratory under the advisement of Subith Vasu, Ph.D. He is a member of the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research, and his work investigates next-generation fuel blends for gas turbine engines. He has performed research on blends of natural gas/hydrogen and natural gas/ammonia as well as liquid methane oxidation at 200 bar for rocket engine thrust chamber conditions. He also spent a summer working at the German Aerospace Center Institute of Combustion Technologies (DLR) in Stuttgart, Germany, promoting international collaboration of scientists.