Student named top new inventor

Michael Crouse

Inventors Digest magazine has named computer science graduate student Michael Crouse (BS ’10, MS ’12) one of the “Nation’s Top New Inventors.”

Featured on the cover of the October issue, Crouse is just one of six “stand-out college students doing ground-breaking, innovative research-and-development in the areas of science, technology and engineering,” wrote editor Mike Drummond.

Investors DigestCrouse has been an integral member of a Wake Forest team training an army of “digital ants” to be turned loose into the nation’s power grid and seek out computer viruses trying to wreak havoc on the system. This summer, he joined Associate Professor of Computer Science Errin Fulp, scientists from the University of California at Davis, and researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in evaluating how the digital ants would actually work once deployed to protect something as large and complex as the nation’s power grid.

“As the co-developer of an evolutionary method for computer configurations, Michael is simply amazing in his abilities, from doing the critical fundamental research to the actual development,” says Fulp, who nominated Crouse for the honor.

The article notes that Crouse also has developed several websites and iPhone apps, including RideTheWake, which lets students, faculty and staff know where campus shuttles are.

Errin Fulp

Errin Fulp

Crouse says he has been overwhelmed by messages and phone calls of support and recognition he’s received. He is quick to credit Fulp and his other mentors for the opportunities they have presented.

“I would encourage anyone interested in technology to take advantage of the awesome resources and amazing environment that the professors in the Computer Science department provide,” he says. “If you have an idea, explore it and invest time in it, because the faculty will bend over backwards to guide you in the right direction.”

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