Cross-industry collaboration supports Indianapolis makerspace during big concert weekend; offers interactive, educational and experiential activities for girls
Purdue’s “In Our STEM Era” Makerspace will introduce girls who are interested in STEM to potential pathways and careers. Members of the university’s Women in Engineering Program have helped promote the event. (Purdue University photo/Kelsey Lefever)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University — collaborating with e.l.f. Cosmetics, trend-driven beauty for every eye, lip and face — hopes to strike the right chord with young music fans who might find harmony between an education and eventual career in a STEM-related field.
As part of the wave of concert fever in Indianapolis, Purdue will host a free, fan-friendly makerspace called “In Our STEM Era” at Circle Centre Mall on Nov. 2-3. The collaboration is led by the university’s internal marketing agency, Purdue Brand Studio, and intends to foster excitement in science, technology, engineering and math among young women. The makerspace will feature e.l.f. Cosmetics’ Lip Oil Change event, including makeup touch-ups and product gifting.
Located in the heart of downtown, this unique pop-up experience is an easy 10-minute walk to Lucas Oil Stadium and directly coincides with one of the most anticipated events of the year.
“Purdue and e.l.f. Cosmetics recognize the unique opportunity to connect with the wave of music fans coming to Indianapolis in early November,” said Kelly Hiller, Purdue Brand Studio’s vice president of marketing. “By blending the excitement of music with the possibilities of technology and science in our makerspace, we’re introducing STEM fields to young people in an unexpected and engaging way. We hope to inspire these young minds to envision themselves as future Purdue students, fostering their creativity and innovation.”
Divided into STEM-themed “eras,” the interactive space aims to draw lines between visitors’ interests in things like music, beauty and concert production, and the scientific fields behind those.
Concertgoers, or anyone else enjoying the festivities downtown, can also:
- Create friendship bracelets that include hidden messages in binary code
- Design their own digital photo background for social media and share it on a huge LED screen
- Sample products at the e.l.f. Cosmetics Lip Oil Change and learn more about women in motorsports
- Print their own tote bag, which they can take as a keepsake
- Celebrate Purdue’s space era by watching the short film “Boilers to Mars” and imagine what it will take to visit the red planet.
Purdue’s Women in Engineering Program will play a key role in the makerspace. Engineering students will work with guests to create a “galaxy in a bottle” keychain and take part in a straw rocket launching activity. The Purdue organization, which is the nation’s first Women in Engineering Program, encourages women and girls to discover their “inner engineer” through mentoring and career development.
Additionally, the e.l.f. Cosmetics IndyCar from the 2024 Indianapolis 500, which was driven by Katherine Legge, will be on display and further illustrates the cross-industry collaboration between academia, beauty and motorsports. Legge, the fastest female qualifier in the 108-year history of the Indianapolis 500, is also the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America.
“At e.l.f., we are committed to empowering legendary females everywhere and we’re honored to collaborate with Purdue to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders. In collaboration with Purdue, we are encouraging women and girls that a STEM career is for every eye, lip and face,” said Patrick O’Keefe, chief integrated marketing officer at e.l.f. Beauty. “Accessibility for e.l.f. goes beyond just our value proposition, we believe that a more inclusive community is always a better one.”
Amplified by Purdue’s College of Engineering, College of Science, Purdue Polytechnic Institute and the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue has the largest STEM undergraduate enrollment of any top 50-ranked university in the country.
“We knew this once-in-a-lifetime moment for Indianapolis presented an opportunity to connect with the young women attending the concert and show them the potential that comes with a STEM career,” said Katie Ellis, Purdue Brand Studio’s senior director of marketing strategy. “The girls in this upcoming generation are so interesting, so multifaceted. In one breath they could be talking about their favorite e.l.f. product and in the next be discussing sustainability and conservation. There is a STEM career behind all of their key interests, and we want them to know that Purdue can be the catalyst to get them there.”
The collaboration with the high-profile cosmetics brand is helping to amplify Purdue’s recent strategic rebranding of its internal marketing department to Purdue Brand Studio, which is no stranger to large-scale events and prominent relationships:
- In June, as Indianapolis hosted the U.S. Olympic Team Trials — Swimming, Purdue partnered with Indiana Sports Corp and USA Swimming to present USA Swimming LIVE, a nine-day outdoor fan fest and tailgate hub.
- In April the marketing and communications team collaborated with two globally recognized brands — the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NASA — for the Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Event, garnering visits from national media including “Good Morning America” and becoming the largest single day of earned media exposure in Purdue history.
- Last fall Fast Company magazine named Purdue a Brand That Matters for the third year in a row, the only higher education institution to earn that distinction.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at
About e.l.f. Cosmetics
e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF) is fueled by a belief that anything is e.l.f.ing possible. We are a different kind of company that disrupts norms, shapes culture and connects communities through positivity, inclusivity and accessibility. e.l.f. Cosmetics, our global flagship brand, makes the best of beauty accessible to every eye, lip and face by bringing together the best of beauty, culture and entertainment. Our superpower is delivering universally appealing, premium quality products at accessible prices that are e.l.f. clean, vegan, double Cruelty Free certified with Leaping Bunny and PETA, and Fair Trade CertifiedTM. Learn more at www.elfcosmetics.com.
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