WEST LAFAYETTE— Purdue University, home to the Cradle of Astronauts, is building on its reputation for academic rigor, research excellence, and space exploration by boldly going where few higher education institutions have gone. The university’s award-winning marketing team has produced and premiered its first-ever feature film.
“Boilers to Mars” follows the academic and professional careers of four fictional Purdue students who meet as first-year undergraduates and are ultimately part of a historic first mission to Mars. The film is supported by SpaceKids Global, an organization that aims to inspire and empower young people by introducing kids to the range of careers available in space exploration and technology.
The 10-minute film, now available on YouTube, premiered during a live viewing and panel discussion at Fowler Hall on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus on Thursday (Sept. 12). It is meant to inspire students nationwide about the possibilities that come with a Purdue education through a modality that has not been leveraged in this way or to this extent by a higher education marketing team—a short film.
“While the characters are fictional, they are based on and inspired by real Purdue students, faculty and alumni who are now actively engaged in the pursuit and advancement of space exploration,” said Kelly Hiller, Purdue vice president of marketing. “What better way to illustrate Purdue’s academic excellence, groundbreaking research and spirit of unrelenting persistence than to tell the aspirational story of four Boilermakers who could truly be among the first humans to travel to Mars.”
Coinciding with the film’s premiere, the marketing department is announcing the rebranding of its internal agency into Purdue Brand Studio on Friday (Sept. 13). This new name represents the evolution and formalization of Purdue’s long-standing and award-winning in-house marketing and communications team.
Purdue has had an extraordinary influence on the U.S. space program. 27 Boilermakers were chosen to become astronauts, leading all nonmilitary academy public universities to fill those ultra-competitive and highly selective roles. That influence extends to research efforts reinforcing numerous joint Purdue-NASA endeavors, ranging from astronomy and extraterrestrial exploration to human habitats and planetary sciences.
The film illustrates how Purdue’s renowned areas of expertise — including aeronautical and astronautical engineering, professional flight, business management, and agricultural and biological engineering — play critical roles in near-space and outer space exploration.
“With this film, we really wanted to celebrate our students, faculty and alumni as much as inspire the next generation of dreamers and doers,” said Emily Richwine, Purdue’s senior director of creative. “Boilermakers aren’t afraid to go first. They are more than willing to put in the work, all the small steps, that lead to world-changing giant leaps. The Purdue Brand Studio team pushed itself to do the same with this project, and we couldn’t be prouder of the result. We can’t wait to share this film with the world.”
The full “Boilers to Mars” experience is available at boilerstomars.com. Visit the marketing and communication team’s site to learn how Purdue’s full-service, in-house agency helps the university pursue its land-grant mission.
