2026 marks the 10th anniversary of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) at Bishop Miege, a program designed to prepare students for success in a rapidly evolving world. With three pathways — Computer Science, Biomedical Science, and Engineering — PLTW gives students hands-on, project-based learning that builds problem-solving, collaboration, and leadership skills.

To celebrate, we checked in with eight PLTW alumni to see how their experiences shaped their college and career paths in our Annual Report. 

Approaching Problems Differently

Patrick Fontaine graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in mechanical engineering and now designs mobile robots for Symbotic in Boston, a company focused on warehouse automation. “PLTW made an impact on me by teaching the pattern of solving engineering problems — predicting performance based on a given situation,” he said. 

He credits PLTW, along with Robotics and Mr. Anderson’s Physics class, for shaping how he approaches engineering problems. Topics like stress and strain and extensive CAD work felt familiar in college, and the Engineering Design and Development course closely mirrored the senior design capstone used in many college engineering programs, giving him early exposure to solving real problems from start to finish.

That preparation has carried into his professional work. Pictured here is a robot prototyping build in Malaysia, where his team assembled robots and worked with manufacturing partners to improve design and manufacturability.

Applying Skills to Research

Payton Nies earned a degree in biochemistry from the University of Kansas and is now in the Integrated Biomedical Science PhD program at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. “I have found that compared to my peers I am much more equipped at figuring out the steps I need to meet my goals, learning how to use new software, and how I can utilize my strengths to learn and grow in my career,” she said.

PLTW exposed her to collaborative work, research integrity, and starting projects from square one. The Engineering Capstone was especially influential, teaching her how to identify a problem, research existing solutions, develop a plan, and document her work clearly. These skills translated directly into undergraduate labs and now into graduate-level research. After Miege, she has worked on a project with NASA and presented at research conferences, putting those foundational problem-solving skills into action.

Developing Leadership through PLTW

Tylor Poitier is a project engineer in the healthcare sector at JE Dunn Construction. “Project Lead the Way courses at Miege had a significant impact on my development, especially in leadership,” he said. “They gave me the confidence and foundational skills to step into leadership roles early in college. One example was my involvement with the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students at The University of Kansas, where I contributed to community initiatives and built skills that continue to shape my career today.”

One of his projects involved transforming 20,000 square feet of the Cardiovascular Imaging Department at the University of Kansas Hospital System. PLTW’s early exposure to technical drawing, design thinking, and project-based collaboration gave him a head start, allowing him to grasp complex concepts and contribute meaningfully to group projects in college from day one.

Starting the Biomedical Pathway

Ana Gajewski was part of the first group of students to experience Bishop Miege’s Biomedical Science pathway. Ana is majoring in bioengineering on the medical device track at Santa Clara University and plans to pursue a master’s in orthotics and prosthetics. “The Principles of Biomedical Science class exposed me to lab procedures like microscopy, gel electrophoresis, blood typing, and DNA extraction, which I encountered again in college,” she said.

The course also taught detailed lab notebook keeping and data analysis, preparing her for college lab reports. She said the skills from PLTW connected to both general and upper-level college courses, from general chemistry to human physiology. Ana has continued building on that foundation through professional experiences, including shadowing at Abbott Endomasters in San Diego.

Seeing Engineering in Action

James Masoner is a propulsion test engineer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center with Relativity Space. He earned his master’s in aerospace engineering at Oklahoma State University, where he also completed his undergraduate degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering. “Being in the PLTW classes contributed to the realization that when encountered with a problem, I can probably figure it out,” he said. “For me, it was the difference between, ‘My car is broken, and I need a mechanic,’ to, ‘My car is broken, and maybe I can fix it.’”

James said the program gave him a clear sense of what engineering work looks like, beyond high school building projects. Learning CAD in high school gave him a head start in college, and although Miege did not offer an Aerospace PLTW class when he was a student, the fundamentals he learned in engineering prepared him for advanced aerodynamics courses later in his degree.

Building Confidence Before College

William Watson took nearly every PLTW course offered at Miege, from engineering and aerospace to computer science. He is dual-majoring in mechanical and nuclear engineering at Kansas State University and hopes to work in nuclear energy to help destigmatize and bolster its use as a clean energy source. “For me personally, I appreciated the focus that both Mr. Clark and Mr. Anderson put on pushing students to take each assignment as a challenge to take risks and learn through trial and error,” he said. “Being able to fail and get back up is such a valuable skill that is so important when studying engineering.”

William consistently encountered PLTW skills in college. In one course, Computer Applications for Mechanical Engineers (ME400), he said, “As someone who took not only all three of the Computer Science PLTW courses but also programmed for Robotics, the class for me was a cakewalk in comparison to my peers.” Early exposure to programming, CAD, and engineering problem-solving allowed him to focus on applying concepts rather than learning tools from scratch.

Discovering Design

Catherine Eshelbrenner graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in architecture and now works at SCM Architects in Little Rock. “Taking PLTW courses led me to discover my love of architecture,” she said. “I had always known I was interested in engineering, but Civil Engineering and Architecture (CEA) helped me recognize a passion for design and architecture.”

The problem-solving skills she developed in PLTW carried through college and into her professional career. Early exposure to design software gave her a head start in both school and work. She even returned to present her portfolio to Mr. Clark’s class, inspiring the next generation of students interested in architecture and design.

Confirming a Career Path

Nick Randant is majoring in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Kansas and plans to work in engineering at the Kansas City National Security Campus. “Taking an Aerospace class my senior year was very helpful in solidifying what particular engineering major I wanted to do,” he said. “I had never taken any classes like them before, and they allowed me to see how much fun it was to learn how to apply all of the math and physics that we learned in class to minor projects.”

In college, Nick often thinks back to projects and topics from his time at Miege. His junior year, he even took a course that was almost identical to the Introduction to Engineering class he took as a freshman at Miege. That early exposure gave him a strong foundation and made him feel like he had a leg up on his peers, having already learned many of the core principles covered in his college classes.

Across all eight alumni stories, one thing is clear: PLTW at Bishop Miege builds a foundation of curiosity, resilience, collaboration, and problem-solving. These habits continue to guide graduates as they pursue careers in engineering, biomedical science, and beyond. The skills and confidence formed in PLTW classrooms help alumni approach challenges with preparation and creativity, no matter what comes next.