Wi-Fi innovator to help Radio Free Palmer celebrate

PALMER — The man most responsible for wireless computing is the keynote speaker at the Radio Free Palmer Annual Meeting at 2 p.m., May 20 at Turkey Red Restaurant.

Alex Hills will give a talk titled “Wi-Fi and the Alaska Connection.” Renowned percussionist Meggie Aube will perform afterward.

Hills is a distinguished service professor of electrical and computer engineering and engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. At Carnegie Mellon, Hills conceived and built the world’s first Wi-Fi network. He tells the story in his book, “Wi-Fi and the Bad Boys of Radio.”

Aube was born and raised in Alaska and graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a bachelor’s degree in percussion performance in 2006.

She completed her master’s degree in 2008 and earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance and Pedagogy in May 2011.

This is an exciting annual meeting for Radio Free Palmer members, many of whom have been involved for the six years it took to put the fledgling community radio station on the air. Volunteers applied for and received a coveted Federal Communications Commission license. They found locations for both a main antenna and a secondary translator antenna and built the station with help from a wide range of donations and grants.

The station offers a breadth of locally produced programming, including various music shows, a mushing show, a technology show and health show — all available on the Web and on the radio at 89.5 FM.

More programming is on the way, all produced by enthusiastic and knowledgeable local volunteers. In addition, Radio Free Palmer streams Mat-Su Borough Assembly and school board meetings at radiofreepalmer.org.