Dr. Paul Wrzesinski is the Senior Technical Specialist (STS) for Aviation Fuels in the Office of Senior Technical Experts (AIR-20). In this capacity, he identifies and mitigates aviation safety and security risk related to aviation fuels and additives, alternative aviation fuels, fuel supply infrastructure, propulsion lubricants, and other aviation fuel issues impacting aviation safety as they relate to certification and operational requirements, policy formulation, and research.

Before joining FAA, Wrzesinski served the Fuels and Energy Branch in the Air Force Research Labs, where he spent just under a decade as the Senior Research Chemist, supporting operational and R&D efforts related to aviation fuel, fuel additives, fuel chemistry, fuel certification, and synthetic/sustainable fuels. Wrzesinski directed world-class R&D programs, and collaborated across industry, academia, and government agencies on both petroleum derived and synthetic aviation fuels.

Prior to this role, Wrzesinski dedicated the entirety of his professional years to advancing research. First as a Post-Doctoral Researcher through the National Academies of the Sciences, and later as a research scientist, he has made an impressive mark in his discipline. Notably, Wrzesinski spent two years as a research scientist for Spectral Energies LLC. During this time, he developed and implemented nonlinear optical methods for combustion diagnostics and in situ microscopy.

Wrzesinski has authored 19 publications and 4 technical reports and has conducted dozens of proceedings and presentations throughout his professional career. He is a member of two societies, including the Optical Society of America, and the CRC Aviation Panel Steering Committee. Throughout the years, he has earned eight awards and honors recognizing his contributions to the field.

Wrzesinski received his bachelor’s in education from Central Michigan University with an ACS certified chemistry major in 2006 and his doctorate in chemistry from Michigan State University in 2011.