alex Hills
Alex Hills broad experience in information technology, including both technical and business aspects. He is an expert in telecommunications policy, which encompasses engineering, law and economics. His telecommunications policy course addresses the very latest issues in this field and is always quite popular with students. Wireless communications technology has been one of his interests in recent years, and he has written and lectured on the technology's potential for delivering basic telephone service in the developing world and on its implications for ubiquitous (anytime, anywhere) computing. Hills is the founder of Carnegie Mellon's Wireless Initiative, and one of his recent projects is "Wireless Andrew," which is making high speed wireless data network service available to Carnegie Mellon users of laptop and other mobile computers.
Working with colleagues, Professor Hills has developed a methodology for designing large scale wireless LANs. He also recently invented a semi-automated design tool called Rollabout, which dramatically improves and speeds up the design process.
In addition, Professor Hills works on technology and policy issues relevant to establishing new telecommunications infrastructure in developing and remote areas of the world. His work with wireless local loop technology, for example, has shown that it can be extremely cost effective but that national decision makers must allocate sufficient radio spectrum to guarantee its feasibility.
Education
PhD, 1979, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
MS, 1969, Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University
BS, 1964, Electrical Engineering, RPI