The Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) Entertainment Challenge provides a unique opportunity for faculty and students to spotlight projects that blend engineering and creativity. Proposals are being accepted through Nov. 15, 2024 for the 2025 challenge.
At Purdue University, the fusion of engineering and entertainment is more than a concept.
The Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) Entertainment Challenge invites faculty and students to showcase projects that blend technical skills with unbridled creativity. Orientation Programs and the Fusion Studio for Entertainment and Engineering (FSEE) launched the initiative in 2021, providing new students with a chance to engage with interactive projects on campus during their orientation.
“It’s an opportunity to expose students to different ways of thinking about the intersection of engineering, technology, art and entertainment,” shares Rich Dionne, FSEE co-director. “I can’t think of another opportunity where you get a chance to put your research in front of a captive audience of thousands of students.”
Pictured: BGR students interact with the “STEM in the Palm of Your Hand” mini Grand Prix display during the 2023 BGR Entertainment Challenge.
Proposals are now being accepted for the 2025 BGR Entertainment Challenge, with the opportunity available both in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Selected proposals will receive a $3,000 seed grant to support their development. Craig Johnson, director of Orientation Programs, shares that this financial support allows faculty and staff to invest resources in ideas that may not have received traction or support.
“If we’re able to create an avenue for the project to succeed, creators can be put in a position to take the project to other areas,” notes Johnson. “They can think about how it can apply to future events and opportunities.”
For Chan Wan Kyn, one of the first grant recipients in 2021, success extended beyond the BGR Entertainment Challenge as he utilized initial support to develop his artistic vision. His subsequent projects received recognition at the 2023 iLight Singapore Festival and earned him prestigious awards, including the Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize for Asian Artists.
These milestones not only highlight Kyn’s individual talent but also reflect how the BGR Entertainment Challenge enhances creative endeavors by connecting artists and engineers with resources and opportunities for future success.
Additionally, the BGR Entertainment Challenge can be an avenue for prototyping solutions to real-world issues. Purdue doctoral students Megan Mei Yee Low and Tam Bureetes participated in the 2024 BGR Entertainment Challenge, creating a game based on humane pest management in agriculture.
Their “Robo Rabbit Run” enabled students to control a remote-controlled rabbit while navigating an escape from a Scarecrow-bot. Low shares that the BGR Entertainment Challenge was a fun way to prototype and gamify a solution to help farmers tackle real issues while gaining a broader sense of how technology works.
Pictured: Students participate in the Digital Ag Club’s “Robo Rabbit Run” during the 2024 BGR Entertainment Challenge.
“If people have an interesting idea, they should go for it,” Low advises. “I was so impressed by the range of projects we saw during the BGR Entertainment Challenge.”
For Bureetes, who plans to teach in his future career, the BGR Entertainment Challenge allowed him to engage with undergraduate students and learn about their passions and interests.
“It’s a good chance to express yourself,” Bureetes shares. “If you have a dream, this is a chance to turn the idea into reality. Anything is possible.”
Faculty, staff and students interested in participating in the 2025 BGR Entertainment Challenge should email a one-page abstract and budget to fusion-studio@purdue.edu by the Nov. 15, 2024 deadline. To view past proposals and learn more about the project timeline and requirements, visit the Fusion Studio website.
Mina Reising
Communication Assistant for Teaching and Learning, tlcoms@purdue.edu
