Draft:Ralf S. Engelschall

Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall
Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall
Born	November 17, 1972 (age 52); Germany
Nationality	German
Alma mater	Technical University of Munich (Dipl.-Inf.); University of Augsburg (Dr. rer. nat.);
Occupations	Computer scientist; Software Architect; Software engineer; CTO;
Years active	1993–present
Employer	Msg_systems [de] ag
Known for	Co-founding Apache Software Foundation; Co-founding OpenSSL; Apache mod_rewrite; Apache mod_ssl;
Awards	Helmut and Heide Balzert Prize (2023); Software-Engineering-Preis (2018);
Website	engelschall.com

Submission declined on 29 July 2025 by Caleb Stanford (talk).

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Declined by Caleb Stanford 32 days ago. Last edited by LarsArtmann 28 days ago. Reviewer: Inform author.

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Comment: Some signs of AI-generation. Was AI used to write this article? 1) Please address the red text. If msg Group is not notable for its own article, it should not be mentioned as prominently in the lead or the rest of the article. 2) Please address the cn tag and add citations to all currently. uncited sentences ("for his work on software architecture and educational innovation in computer science" , "Co-founder and Managing Director of the Software Engineering Academy (SEA)", "securing the majority of HTTPS-enabled websites globally. ", and a couple of others). 3) notable publications are listed twice, once earlier and once in selected, we need only one 4) Please reduce the promotional tone throughout. 4) Teaching innovation section is promotional, e.g. "pioneered innovative teaching methods", please rewrite or remove. After addressing the above and carefully reviewing or rewriting all AI-generated text, please resubmit. Caleb Stanford (talk) 16:19, 29 July 2025 (UTC)

Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall (born November 17, 1972) is a German computer scientist, software engineer, and open source developer. He is a co-founder of the Apache Software Foundation and OpenSSL, and currently serves as Chief Technology Officer of Msg_systems [de].^[1] Engelschall is known for his contributions to internet infrastructure, including the development of Apache mod_rewrite and mod_ssl,^[2] and for his work on software architecture and educational innovation in computer science.

Early life and education

Engelschall was born on November 17, 1972, in Germany.^{[citation needed]} He received his Diplom in Computer Science (magna cum laude) from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 1999.^[3]

In 2018, he completed his doctorate at the University of Augsburg with a dissertation titled "Hierarchical User Interface Component Architecture (HUICA)" under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Alexander Knapp and Prof. Dr. Bernhard Bauer, receiving the grade magna cum laude.^[4]^[5]

Career

Open source contributions

Apache Software Foundation

In 1999, Engelschall became one of the 21 founding members of the Apache Software Foundation, contributing to the governance model that would influence numerous open source projects. His major contributions to Apache include:

Apache mod_rewrite: A URL rewriting engine based on PCRE regular expressions that enables flexible URL manipulation and has become essential for modern web development^[6]
Apache mod_ssl: The module that brought SSL/TLS support to Apache HTTP Server, enabling secure HTTPS connections^[7]^[8]

OpenSSL

In 1998, Engelschall co-founded OpenSSL with Mark Cox, Ben Laurie, Paul Sutton, and Stephen Henson.^[9] The project emerged from discussions at the first ApacheCon conference in San Francisco and was created by forking the SSLeay library. OpenSSL has since become the most widely used cryptographic toolkit for SSL/TLS protocols, securing the majority of HTTPS-enabled websites globally.

Other software projects

Engelschall has created and maintained numerous other open source projects:

GNU Portable Threads (GNU Pth): A POSIX/ANSI C based library for non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multithreading^[10]
OpenPKG: A cross-platform Unix software packaging facility supporting multiple-instance packaging^[11]
ComponentJS: A component system for hierarchically structuring HTML5-based rich clients^[12]
Over 200 other open source projects maintained on GitHub^[13]

Corporate leadership

Since joining msg Group, Engelschall has served as:^[14]

Chief Technology Officer of msg Group
Director of msg Applied Technology Research
Co-founder and Managing Director of the Software Engineering Academy (SEA)

Academic work

Research

Engelschall has published 11 peer-reviewed papers with over 110 citations.^[15] His research interests include:

Software architecture and component systems
Multithreading and concurrent programming
Cryptographic systems and security
Educational technology and multimedia didactics

Notable publications include:

"Portable Multithreading-The Signal Stack Trick for User-Space Thread Creation" (USENIX 2000)^[16]
"The beauty of software architecture" (ICSA 2023, with Céline Madeleine Aldenhoven)^[17]

Teaching innovation

Engelschall pioneered innovative teaching methods at Technical University of Munich, developing a "multimedia didactics" approach that combines:^[18]

Interactive illustrations and animations
Video streaming with virtual studio technology
Real-time feedback systems
Online-first course design

He teaches the course "Software Engineering in der industriellen Praxis (SEIP)" at TUM.^[19]

Awards and recognition

Helmut and Heide Balzert Prize 2023: Awarded by the Gesellschaft für Informatik (German Informatics Society) for his innovative multimedia didactics concept in software engineering education^[20]^[21]
Software-Engineering-Preis 2018: Awarded by the Ernst-Denert Foundation for bridging science to applied technology through 25+ years of open source contributions^[22]^[23]

Selected publications

Engelschall, Ralf S. (2018). Hierarchical User Interface Component Architecture (HUICA) (PhD). University of Augsburg.
Engelschall, Ralf S. (2000). Portable Multithreading-The Signal Stack Trick for User-Space Thread Creation. USENIX Annual Technical Conference. pp. 239–250.
Engelschall, Ralf S. (2000). Apache Desktop Reference. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0201604702.
Aldenhoven, Céline M.; Engelschall, Ralf S. (2023). The beauty of software architecture. IEEE International Conference on Software Architecture (ICSA).

References

^ "Balzert Prize Awarded to Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall for Multimedia Didactics". msg Group. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Apache Contributors". The Apache HTTP Server Project. Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall: Computer Scientist". engelschall.com. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ Engelschall, Ralf S. (2018). Hierarchical User Interface Component Architecture (HUICA) (PhD). University of Augsburg. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Hierarchical User Interface Component Architecture". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Apache 1.3 URL Rewriting Guide". Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved 2024-01-27. Originally written by Ralf S. Engelschall <rse(at)apache.org> December 1997
^ "mod_ssl - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4". Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved 2024-01-27. contributed by Ralf S. Engeschall based on his mod_ssl project
^ "mod_ssl: The Apache Interface to OpenSSL". modssl.org. Retrieved 2024-01-27. created in April 1998 by Ralf S. Engelschall
^ Cox, Mark (2018-12-20). "Celebrating 20 years of OpenSSL". OpenSSL Blog. Retrieved 2024-01-27. Tim, Paul, Mark, Ben, Ralf, and Steve typed over plates of Sushi
^ "GNU Pth - The GNU Portable Threads". GNU Project. Free Software Foundation. Retrieved 2024-01-27. © 1999-2006 Ralf S. Engelschall <rse(at)gnu.org>
^ "Open Source Community". engelschall.com. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "ComponentJS". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "rse (Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall)". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Balzert-Preis an Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall für Multimediale Didaktik verliehen". msg Group (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Ralf ENGELSCHALL". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ Engelschall, Ralf S. (2000). Portable Multithreading-The Signal Stack Trick for User-Space Thread Creation. USENIX Annual Technical Conference. pp. 239–250.
^ "dblp: Ralf Sascha Engelschall". DBLP Computer Science Bibliography. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Multimediale Didaktik". multimediale-didaktik.de. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "SEIP". seip.direct. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Vom Vorlesungssaal ins Fernsehstudio: Ralf Engelschall erhält Balzert-Preis für digitale Didaktik". Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (in German). 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Vom Vorlesungssaal ins Fernsehstudio: Ralf Engelschall mit Balzert-Preis für digitale Didaktik ausgezeichnet". Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (in German). 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Software-Engineering-Preis 2018 Urkunde" (PDF). 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
^ "Ehrung für angewandte Technologie: Software-Engineering-Preis 2018". msg Group (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-27.

External links

[1] "Balzert Prize Awarded to Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall for Multimedia Didactics". msg Group. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[2] "Apache Contributors". The Apache HTTP Server Project. Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[3] "Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall: Computer Scientist". engelschall.com. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[4] Engelschall, Ralf S. (2018). Hierarchical User Interface Component Architecture (HUICA) (PhD). University of Augsburg. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[5] "Hierarchical User Interface Component Architecture". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[6] "Apache 1.3 URL Rewriting Guide". Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved 2024-01-27. Originally written by Ralf S. Engelschall <rse(at)apache.org> December 1997

[7] "mod_ssl - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4". Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved 2024-01-27. contributed by Ralf S. Engeschall based on his mod_ssl project

[8] "mod_ssl: The Apache Interface to OpenSSL". modssl.org. Retrieved 2024-01-27. created in April 1998 by Ralf S. Engelschall

[9] Cox, Mark (2018-12-20). "Celebrating 20 years of OpenSSL". OpenSSL Blog. Retrieved 2024-01-27. Tim, Paul, Mark, Ben, Ralf, and Steve typed over plates of Sushi

[10] "GNU Pth - The GNU Portable Threads". GNU Project. Free Software Foundation. Retrieved 2024-01-27. © 1999-2006 Ralf S. Engelschall <rse(at)gnu.org>

[11] "Open Source Community". engelschall.com. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[12] "ComponentJS". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[13] "rse (Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall)". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[14] "Balzert-Preis an Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall für Multimediale Didaktik verliehen". msg Group (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[15] "Ralf ENGELSCHALL". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[16] Engelschall, Ralf S. (2000). Portable Multithreading-The Signal Stack Trick for User-Space Thread Creation. USENIX Annual Technical Conference. pp. 239–250.

[17] "dblp: Ralf Sascha Engelschall". DBLP Computer Science Bibliography. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[18] "Multimediale Didaktik". multimediale-didaktik.de. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[19] "SEIP". seip.direct. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[20] "Vom Vorlesungssaal ins Fernsehstudio: Ralf Engelschall erhält Balzert-Preis für digitale Didaktik". Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (in German). 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[21] "Vom Vorlesungssaal ins Fernsehstudio: Ralf Engelschall mit Balzert-Preis für digitale Didaktik ausgezeichnet". Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (in German). 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[22] "Software-Engineering-Preis 2018 Urkunde" (PDF). 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2024-01-27.

[23] "Ehrung für angewandte Technologie: Software-Engineering-Preis 2018". msg Group (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-27.

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