Deaf TCC Student's Aerospace Engineering Career Blasting Off With Microgravity Experiment At NASA

Eric Shear didn’t let his physical disability limit his dreams.

Now, the student at  Tacoma Community College outside of University Place is doing something few of us would even fathom, let alone accomplish, all at the world’s space headquarters.

He is leading a team of engineers on a microgravity experiment at NASA – yes, NASA – at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Last year, NASA accepted Shear into its Community College Aerospace Scholar program, and he spent three days in Houston. He was one of about 90 students selected.

Afterward, he and his team submitted a proposal for their microgravity experiment to NASA, and it accepted. Shear’s program in Houston began June 15 and will last until June 25. He also received his Associate in Science in Engineering transfer degree from TCC this month.

The graduate of is doing all this, mind you, without an ability to hear. Shear is deaf, which means he must communicate about the experiment with his team through interpreters.

But none of that has limited him so far, as NASA paid for two interpreters from TCC to accompany him during his trip last year. This year, the TCC Foundation is paying for Shear’s interpreter and airfare, and an additional $1,000 from the Washington NASA Space Grant at the University of Washington will cover the rest of the trip.

Judging by his work and accomplishments, any money invested in Shear is probably a good bet.

According to TCC Magazine, Shear’s team of six people will investigate how water adheres to the fuel cell membrane in microgravity. He is team leader, which involves writing a technical description of the experiment and its supporting hardware.

“The membrane is the critical part of the fuel cell,” he told the magazine, “since it is the part that splits the water.”

He did all this while finishing his required work at TCC.

Shear and his interpreters – Tara Martin and Dara Burlingame – help each other. Martin told the magazine that she didn’t need any special space engineering training leading up to the trip last year.

“I don’t study,” Martin said. “I learn from Eric.”

The NASA program ends June 25. After that, Shear will be in the process of selecting a four-year-school which he’d like to attend to pursue his aeronautical passion.

“I’m applying to a number of programs out of state,” he said. “A few are even in Canada. I’m taking no chances.”

(Click here to find out more about Shear and other TCC students who are succeeding outside of the classroom.)