Will Sobel at the Ontology Summit 2026
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Ken Baclawski
Apr 27, 2026, 4:01:12 PM (2 days ago) Apr 27
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The next Ontology Summit session on Wednesday 29 April 2026 will feature
Will Sobel
who will present
The Evolution of an Industrial Standard: From Paper to Ontology
As usual, all summit sessions are zoom sessions on Wednesdays at Noon US/Canada Eastern Time, and each session lasts one hour. The summit is open to the public and no registration is necessary. All summit sessions are recorded and are available on the summit web pages and on the Ontology Summit YouTube channel.
The session page is: https://ontologforum.com/index.php/ConferenceCall_2026_04_29
Zoom information:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86994661673?pwd=mMUeaWyWhBMSzTw3SgH5GjMv2Qx4rH.1
Meeting ID: 869 9466 1673
Passcode: 803090
Abstract: The MTConnect Standard has progressed from an XML- and PDF-based normative to a SysML model, and now to an ontology layer on top of the information model. The transition from paper to a model-based approach has yielded significant advantages, but it has not resolved critical concerns regarding validation, trustworthiness, and usability. As the standard has matured, additional challenges have arisen that modeling languages such as SysML cannot address. With the increasing need for cross-domain information sharing and supplier agility, existing standards impede interoperability due to insufficient semantic representation and siloed viewpoints. These issues have become very apparent as we explore certain domains, such as capabilities, that cannot be addressed without an ontological approach.
Bio William Sobel has been architecting complex systems across various industries for over 35 years. For the last 19 years, Mr. Sobel has served as the Chief Architect and chair of the Executive Committee of the MTConnect Standard, an international model-based standard for manufacturing equipment and the IIoT. Additionally, he leads the Industrial Ontologies Foundry Architecture Working Group, which advances support for cross-domain industrial knowledge and explainable AI. While leading the architecture of the MTConnect standard, Mr. Sobel was the CEO of VIMANA, a leading industrial analytics platform. Before VIMANA, he worked as a visiting lecturer at UC Berkeley, teaching agile web development and data center optimization using machine learning at RadLAB. Before UC Berkeley, Mr. Sobel worked in the financial industry for 17 years. He served as VP and Chief Architect at MSCI-Barra, leading a team that was architecting the industry's first and leading SaaS financial risk management software.
We had a lively session on 22 April. If you were unable to attend be sure to check out the videos on the session page at https://ontologforum.com/index.php/ConferenceCall_2026_04_22 or on the Ontology Summit YouTube channel.
Ken Baclawski
Chair, Ontology Summit 2026
Will Sobel
who will present
The Evolution of an Industrial Standard: From Paper to Ontology
As usual, all summit sessions are zoom sessions on Wednesdays at Noon US/Canada Eastern Time, and each session lasts one hour. The summit is open to the public and no registration is necessary. All summit sessions are recorded and are available on the summit web pages and on the Ontology Summit YouTube channel.
The session page is: https://ontologforum.com/index.php/ConferenceCall_2026_04_29
Zoom information:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86994661673?pwd=mMUeaWyWhBMSzTw3SgH5GjMv2Qx4rH.1
Meeting ID: 869 9466 1673
Passcode: 803090
Abstract: The MTConnect Standard has progressed from an XML- and PDF-based normative to a SysML model, and now to an ontology layer on top of the information model. The transition from paper to a model-based approach has yielded significant advantages, but it has not resolved critical concerns regarding validation, trustworthiness, and usability. As the standard has matured, additional challenges have arisen that modeling languages such as SysML cannot address. With the increasing need for cross-domain information sharing and supplier agility, existing standards impede interoperability due to insufficient semantic representation and siloed viewpoints. These issues have become very apparent as we explore certain domains, such as capabilities, that cannot be addressed without an ontological approach.
Bio William Sobel has been architecting complex systems across various industries for over 35 years. For the last 19 years, Mr. Sobel has served as the Chief Architect and chair of the Executive Committee of the MTConnect Standard, an international model-based standard for manufacturing equipment and the IIoT. Additionally, he leads the Industrial Ontologies Foundry Architecture Working Group, which advances support for cross-domain industrial knowledge and explainable AI. While leading the architecture of the MTConnect standard, Mr. Sobel was the CEO of VIMANA, a leading industrial analytics platform. Before VIMANA, he worked as a visiting lecturer at UC Berkeley, teaching agile web development and data center optimization using machine learning at RadLAB. Before UC Berkeley, Mr. Sobel worked in the financial industry for 17 years. He served as VP and Chief Architect at MSCI-Barra, leading a team that was architecting the industry's first and leading SaaS financial risk management software.
We had a lively session on 22 April. If you were unable to attend be sure to check out the videos on the session page at https://ontologforum.com/index.php/ConferenceCall_2026_04_22 or on the Ontology Summit YouTube channel.
Ken Baclawski
Chair, Ontology Summit 2026
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