March Of The Ants

Yuhong Liu, assistant professor of computer engineering, and Ruiwen (Louise) Li ’19 are testing an algorithm based on the ability of ants to find the most efficient path to their nest.

Ants find the shortest path from food to the nest by sending scouts along random trails. When the scout ant with the most efficient path returns, others follow that scout’s scent, adding their scents to the path and making it easier to find.

Oddly enough, this creepy, crawly pathfinding might hold the key to cloud security.

That is what Yuhong Liu, assistant professor of computer engineering, is working with her students to prove.

Using this follow-the-leader strategy, Liu along with colleagues from California State University, East Bay developed an algorithm to make cloud-computing more efficient and secure.

post-image Learning from nature—including ants—can help make computers safer. / Image courtesy iStock
From Scratch

The new leader of SCU’s adolescent mental health concentration wants to design better mental healthcare delivery systems to help more kids, now.

Green Is the New Black

Leaders in sustainable fashion shared career advice with student designers at SCU’s popular EcoFashion Show.

Hop 2 It

How do you get from hops to beer? Sustainability interns found out by turning hops grown at SCU’s Forge Garden into “Forge Ahead,” an English-style pale ale.

Racking Up

Tess Heal ’26 is nabbing awards left and right thanks to a stellar freshman year with Santa Clara women’s basketball.