Pasour Awarded NC Space Grant

John Pasour, a mechanical drafting student at Cleveland Community College, was awarded a $4,500 North Carolina Space Grant earlier this year. He presented his research findings at the NC Space Grant Symposium in Raleigh on April 21.

Pasour’s goal with his research was to “determine the viability of using living components in an air filtration system.” The system would be used in space to remove carbon dioxide from an atmosphere to make it breathable or to at least take a load off the existing electrolysis systems so that they can work more efficiently.

With the help of machining instructor Brian Summey, Pasour designed, drew and assembled a container for his air filtration system. Once the components of the experiment were set up, Pasour made observations over the course of several weeks. At the conclusion of the experiment, he created a poster to display his findings. Unfortunately, the results were not promising, but Pasour enjoyed the experience anyway.

Pasour is graduating in May with an Associate in Applied Science in Mechanical Drafting Technology. “My dream job would be to play around in a room with 3D printers all day,” said Pasour, “or go to a four-year and become an aerospace engineer. Either way, it seems like a great career path to go down.”

About the North Carolina Space Grant

The NC Space Grant is a NASA-funded program that seeks to engage students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). Each year, the program competitively awards grants to students for the purpose of conducting research projects that support NASA’s Mission Directorates.