Post by Brandon Fong

So excited to share that our capstone project, NeuroStent, received GOLD at the 2026 University of Calgary Engineering Design Fair! 🥇 Over the past 8 months, our team developed NeuroStent, a minimally invasive endovascular neural interface designed to record neural signals without open-brain surgery. By navigating through the vasculature and deploying a stent-based electrode, this work aims to safely access neural activity and enable monitoring of dangerous blood pressure instabilities, with future potential to restore independence for patients living with spinal cord injuries. This project brought together microfabrication, electrical interfacing, signal acquisition, software visualization, and mechanical validation into one integrated system. From early prototypes to in-vitro testing and preparing for large-animal trials, this work reflects many iterations, problem-solving, and strong interdisciplinary collaboration. I’m super proud of our team, Sara Mah, Celine Yeung, Jessica Tran, Fabiha Chohan and Lujaina Eldelebshany for all the long hours and hard work that made this possible. A special thank you to our academic supervisor, Dr. Colin Dalton, our sponsor Phillips Lab x RESTORE Network for Spinal Cord Injury, our mentor, Julien Rimok, and collaborators: Chun Yin Au Yeung, Edward, Huaping Xu, Dylan Finch, Kazim Haider, Wenbin Yang, MicroLumen®, Myles Billard, and Dr. Alim Mitha for their mentorship, guidance, and support throughout this project. We are also deeply grateful to everyone else who supported and encouraged us along the way; this achievement truly wouldn’t have been possible without you. A truly unforgettable way to wrap up the final year of our degrees!