Small StepsStudent Innovation

From Purdue to Mars

Purdue University cultivates an innovative space for students to pursue lifelong dreams and passions. Freshman in the School of Engineering, Thendral Kamal, is an international student from Dubai who chose Purdue with the purpose of continuing her pursuit of becoming an astronaut. Seeing that some of her biggest heroes, Sirisha Bandla and Neil Armstrong, attended Purdue, she knew this would be a school that would share a dream as big as hers.  

“I grew up with a fascination for the stars and have always strongly believed that the sky is no limit when it comes to pursuing an ambition—not when there are footprints on the Moon, and certainly not when spacecraft have ventured far beyond the bubble of the Solar System.” 

Aside from becoming an astronaut, another important and innovative focus is Kamal’s Aspiring First Woman on Mars journey, which she has been crafting since the age of 10. Taking every experience and opportunity, Kamal has been able to present a TEDx talk on why investing in Mars matters, participate in the UAE Zero Gravity program, become a science communicator at the Sharjah Planetarium, and much more. 

“Mars is hard. Space, in general, is hard. But it is where we see the best of humanity’s innovations shine. And in this challenging drive towards the future, I see myself contributing some of my own innovations and ideas, as an engineer.” 

Purdue has provided Kamal with many opportunities to make this a possibility. As a Boilermaker, Kamal has been a part of the Purdue EPICS Aero & Astro Engineering Education project team, gained hands-on experience at the Bechtel Innovation & Design Center, become a member of the Purdue Society of Women Engineers, and has recently won the Purdue’s Summer Stay Scholarship which will allow her to conduct research at Purdue over the summer while taking classes.  

Kamal states, “I have been able to make use of an abundance of opportunities as a Purdue student. From having the opportunity to have intellectual conversations with like-minded professors and students alike, I credit the welcoming and encouraging environment of Purdue that has allowed me to keep pursuing my passions.”  

From academics, to making connections both personally and professionally, Purdue makes it their persistent pursuit to educate, unite, and inspire students towards giant leaps and is exactly what Kamal has done through her innovative drive to continue forward. Kamal also believes sharing her love for Mars and engineering is an aspect that keeps her on this journey towards being the first woman on Mars. 

“You can absolutely do anything you set your mind to, the sky is the limit!” Kamal states.  

Purdue Pilots Incorporated

Erwin Smith and Pablo Villa are both members of Purdue Pilots Inc, also known as PPI. PPI is a student-run flying club at Purdue University. This club provides the Boilermaker community with the opportunity of taking small steps to persistently pursue their dreams while offering low-cost, affordable aircraft rentals. 

Purdue Pilots Inc. was created with a goal of helping Purdue students and staff experience the many wonders and joys of flying, giving Boilermakers the ability to fly almost anywhere they want, even beyond Purdue, aiming to support dreams towards future endeavors.  

Smith states, “My favorite part about the organization is the amazing rates that they offer to student pilots. Flying can be an expensive hobby, and PPI offers rates nearly 30% cheaper than the standard rate.” 

Smith is a senior in Industrial Engineering at Purdue University and joined the club during the spring of 2021 with a goal of finishing his license before graduation the following year.  

Affordability is one of the many ways PPI aides in educating and inspiring students of all majors towards a better future. Villa finds the club also offers an opportunity for networking and making connections. Villa states, “My favorite part about the organization is how easily you’re able to go to meetings and meet somebody who is also interested in flying and be able to talk to them, which is interesting, and can help people make friends.” 

Villa is a sophomore in Mechanical Engineering and joined PPI in the summer of 2021. He joined with the hopes of achieving his private license to use towards leisure flying in the summer and upon graduation. 

Purdue Pilots Inc is one of the many clubs that strives to educate and inspire Purdue students. More information can be found on the Purdue Pilots website. All Boilermakers on campus can join this club, just as Villa and Smith did. “You don’t have to major in anything related to aviation or flying at all.  Anybody can do it on their own time,” Villa said.  

Smith encourages Boilermakers interested in flying to set up a time with Purdue Aviation, where they arrange students with an instructor who helps give flight controls, offering to build upon an amazing first-hand experience. “You never really know if you like flying or not until you have the opportunity to fly by yourself.” 

Purdue Pilots Inc provides students with the opportunity to be innovative, regardless of their major. By giving students the knowledge and resources that they need, Purdue students can take the necessary steps to their next giant leap.  

Boilermakers at Nasa

One of Purdue University’s main goals is to inspire Boilermakers through innovative opportunities that allow students to go above and beyond, continuously aiding towards future endeavors and success. Hana Wong, a sophomore in Electrical Engineering, is one of the many students who has taken advantage of Purdue’s persistent pursuit to be innovative through her recent internship with NASA. 

“Innovation is important to me because I am driven by my mission to be able to help as many people as possible with my work,” states Wong.  

Wong worked virtually at NASA as an Attitude Control Systems Intern, which consisted of researching and analyzing data along with attending weekly meetings, lectures and much more. One of her main projects was to create an Attitude Control Systems Python simulator, which she presented the findings and results for, at the end of her summer internship. Although she faced adversity and challenges through the virtual set up, Wong overcame them and found much joy in the opportunity of working on these projects.  

Wong states, “I loved being able to create an innovative solution for demonstrating ACS operations and working hands-on with software and instrument data to create a fully functioning prototype.” 

Wong obtained the internship through the application process on the NASA internships portal and prides Purdue in providing her with the experience and tools to make this opportunity possible.  

“Purdue Engineering is very rigorous, and can be quite the mountain sometimes, but being a NASA intern helped me realize that the skills I’ve gained at Purdue are very applicable to the real-life projects that NASA employees work on.” Wong believes the internship allowed her the space to become even more well-versed and qualified in these skills as well.  

Purdue University is consistently uniting and educating Boilermakers to achieve milestones that can have a significant impact on not only their careers, but the world around them. This gives students the confidence to take small steps that can lead to giant leaps.  

“This internship has helped me prove to potential employers that I have the technical and soft skills necessary to succeed in any project they put me in, and the fact that I’ve worked on such innovative projects has given me the strength and inspiration to continue working on new research projects at Purdue.” 

All Boilermakers can gain the strength and inspiration to achieve futuristic goals through innovative steps. Wong’s story is one of the many that shows how innovation is crucial to success. Purdue continues to uplift innovation by offering an abundance of opportunities that students can both utilize and explore.