Oslo, Norway-based Trolltech announced the promotion of KHTML creator Lars Knoll to VP of Engineering. Knoll's KHTML work was instrumental in the development of the Webkit open source browser engine that is fast gaining momentum in the mobile phone market.

(Click for larger view of Lars Knoll)

Knoll will head up the global development organization for Trolltech, a company specializing in cross-platform development tools and increasingly, embedded Linux software stacks for phones and other mobile devices. Leading development teams in Norway, Germany, and Australia, Knolls responsibilities will include helping to define product road maps, maintaining oversight of Trolltech's commercial product development, and overseeing contributions to open source projects.

An expert in Linux web browsers and user interfaces, Knoll was Trolltech's lead developer and a major contributor to open-source projects like Webkit and the KDE (K Desktop Environment).

Knoll is also leading a Trolltech team that is building WebKit into Qt, Trolltech's desktop application development framework, and into Qtopia, the embedded version of Qt. Trolltech had previously announced that the Qt integration would be made available with the Qt 4.4 release in early 2008.

Knoll joined Trolltech seven years ago when he was recruited by Matthias Ettrich, KDE creator and Trolltech's Qt development manager, says Trolltech. Since then, Knoll has contributed to projects including the Sharp Zaurus, and has worked on streamlining cross-platform application development. Knoll has a Ph.D. in physics from the Max Plank Institute in Heidelberg, and he also studied at Isreal's Weizman Institute of Science.

Knoll is best known, however for his lead role with the KHTML rendering engine, which took nearly three man years to write. Originally part of the KDE project's Konqueror browser, KHTML is now found in 75 software products, says the company. It was the basis for Webkit, which in turn was the foundation for the Apple Safari browser that is used in numerous Apple products including the iPhone. Webkit has been adopted by Nokia and implemented as part of the Symbian S60 smartphone. Webkit is also part of Adobe's AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) web development suite, as well as a new open source browser, Pleyo Origyn (whitepaper).

Stated Haavard Nord, Trolltech CEO, “Lars has been a significant contributor to the success of Trolltech, and we are extremely proud to be welcoming him onto the Trolltech management team.”

 
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