Computer Pioneer Has Joined HP Labs

Computing pioneer Alan Kay, who was instrumental in the development of modern programming languages and graphics-based computer interfaces, has joined Hewlett-Packard Co. as a senior fellow at HP Labs.

Kay, 62, will research and develop new software platforms, the company said Monday. Underlying code will be shared in the same fashion as the open-source Linux operating system.

In recent years, Kay has been working on Squeak, a set of programming tools based on images rather than words. Children as young as 5 have created programs using the system.

Kay said he will continue to work on the Squeak project at HP Labs and at Glendale-based Viewpoints Research Institute, which he co-founded.

“The work with children has always been the trigger for the technological inventions I’ve done over the years,” he said. “Most of those are now in use by adults. This is something HP understands.”

In the late 1960s, Kay played a role in the development of ARPAnet, a predecessor to the Internet. In 1972, he joined the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.

Besides creating the forerunner of today’s notebook computers, Kay invented Smalltalk, widely considered to be the father of modern object-oriented programming languages. He also played a role in developing bitmap displays, which now are used in all computers that show graphical windows and icons.

Kay also was chief scientist at Atari from 1981 to 1984 and a fellow at Apple Computer Inc. from 1984 to 1996. After leaving Apple, he joined Walt Disney Imagineering. He left Disney last year.