Prof. Peng Zhao is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering and the Space Institute of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville since 2021. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University in 2015, and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2009. From 2015-2020, he was an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at Oakland University. His research interests primarily focus on fundamental-based and application-oriented problems in the frontier areas of combustion, propulsion, energy conversion, and fire safety. His current research activities include low-carbon fuels, Li-ion battery safety, and multiphysical numerical simulation. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in the leading combustion and energy journals and 1 book chapter. He is a Bernard Lewis Fellow of the International Combustion Institute, session chair of the International Combustion Symposium, and session organizer of SAE World Congress.