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News & Photos
Testing the Waters: Engineering Students Partner with GaiaXus
McDonogh students are LifeReady. What does this mean? We teach students how to think, not what to think, empowering them to lead lives of consequence and do the greatest good.
When GaiaXus founder and CEO Dietrich Ruehlmann visited campus on Thursday, May 14, Dr. Josh Jones, director of McDonogh's 800-Acre Labs, knew he had found the right partner. Ruehlmann is part life scientist, part engineer, and entirely mission- driven. His goal is to put professional-grade water sensors in the hands of ordinary citizens so that students and communities can collect valid, meaningful data and become part of real research.
That vision found a natural home in Vince Bonia's Honors Engineering classroom, where this school year, his students have been doing what real engineers do: identifying problems, ideating, building prototypes, testing them, and starting over. They followed the same iterative process used by professional engineering firms until they could deliver proof- of-concept designs.
It turns out, Ruehlmann's approach and Bonia's classroom have a lot in common — and starting in the 2026-2027 school year, the engineering capstone class will work directly with GaiaXus, a Maryland-based startup, helping design and test new sensor prototypes and contributing directly to the company's product development. The partnership will run in two directions. While the capstone students work on prototype development, other students will deploy the devices to collect water quality data on the Gwynns Falls River, which runs through the School's campus — turning McDonogh's own backyard into a living laboratory.
“It’s real life science and real engineering, all on our 800 acres,” says Director of LifeReady Kevin Costa. “It is, in other words, exactly the kind of learning McDonogh's engineering program was built for: real problems, real partners, and results that matter beyond the classroom.”
McDonogh’s robust STEM programs develop intellectual confidence, creative problem-solving, and technical fluency in every student. The coordinated pathway from kindergarten to twelfth grade ensures that students do not restart their learning at each level; they advance. Beginning in the Lower School, students explore CAD, robotics, and guided tool safety. The program grows in Middle School with independence in design and fabrication to Upper School mastery of advanced systems, culminating in a Capstone experience where seniors tackle real community challenges in collaboration with Greatest Good McDonogh and 800-Acre Labs.
McDonogh students are LifeReady. What does this mean? We teach students how to think, not what to think, empowering them to lead lives of consequence and do the greatest good.
When GaiaXus founder and CEO Dietrich Ruehlmann visited campus on Thursday, May 14, Dr. Josh Jones, director of McDonogh's 800-Acre Labs, knew he had found the right partner. Ruehlmann is part life scientist, part engineer, and entirely mission- driven. His goal is to put professional-grade water sensors in the hands of ordinary citizens so that students and communities can collect valid, meaningful data and become part of real research.
That vision found a natural home in Vince Bonia's Honors Engineering classroom, where this school year, his students have been doing what real engineers do: identifying problems, ideating, building prototypes, testing them, and starting over. They followed the same iterative process used by professional engineering firms until they could deliver proof- of-concept designs.
It turns out, Ruehlmann's approach and Bonia's classroom have a lot in common — and starting in the 2026-2027 school year, the engineering capstone class will work directly with GaiaXus, a Maryland-based startup, helping design and test new sensor prototypes and contributing directly to the company's product development. The partnership will run in two directions. While the capstone students work on prototype development, other students will deploy the devices to collect water quality data on the Gwynns Falls River, which runs through the School's campus — turning McDonogh's own backyard into a living laboratory.
“It’s real life science and real engineering, all on our 800 acres,” says Director of LifeReady Kevin Costa. “It is, in other words, exactly the kind of learning McDonogh's engineering program was built for: real problems, real partners, and results that matter beyond the classroom.”
McDonogh’s robust STEM programs develop intellectual confidence, creative problem-solving, and technical fluency in every student. The coordinated pathway from kindergarten to twelfth grade ensures that students do not restart their learning at each level; they advance. Beginning in the Lower School, students explore CAD, robotics, and guided tool safety. The program grows in Middle School with independence in design and fabrication to Upper School mastery of advanced systems, culminating in a Capstone experience where seniors tackle real community challenges in collaboration with Greatest Good McDonogh and 800-Acre Labs.