Not phases. They start in month one and never stop.
Threads
Research, clinic, portfolio, math, reading, community, career, and the one calendar on the site. A phase is something you finish. A thread is something you keep pulling.
The research ladder
Volunteer, then paid, then named on a poster, then co-author. It takes two years, so it starts in the first month. The emails that get replies, the offer that gets you in, and the programs that pay for summers.
ThreadThe clinic
Sleep technologist, EEG technologist, intraoperative neuromonitoring. Shadowing the epilepsy unit, an awake DBS implantation, a cochlear implant activation, a stroke rehab gym. The wings only count if you have stood in a hospital.
ThreadPortfolio and writing
Build logs, characterization reports, reproduction write-ups, one-page memos, a poster, a personal site. Engineers who can write a clear page get promoted, and a resume cannot show judgment where a write-up can.
ThreadThe math track
Linear algebra, then signals and systems, then probability and Bayesian estimation, then control, then enough electromagnetism to reason about dipoles in conductors. In that order, each attached to the phase that needs it.
ThreadThe reading track
Kandel a chapter a week as the backbone, then the texts for each spine, the papers to read per phase, and the journals to skim monthly. One paper a week for four years is two hundred papers.
ThreadCommunity
NeurotechX and its student club (found one if the campus lacks it), BMES and IEEE EMBS, the BCI Society, the OpenBCI forum, Neuromatch's network, BioUtah. Where the people are, and why showing up works.
ThreadCareer forks
PhD, industry R&D, regulatory and quality, clinical, patent law, founding. What each path looks like day to day, what it requires by graduation, and the one thing to do this year for each: talk to one person on it.
ThreadThe calendar
The one timeline on the site. Competitions, summer program deadlines, conference abstracts, and the university's own cycles, by month. Every date must be confirmed each year against its source.