Founder, Special Form Software LLC
Email: kmcorbett@specialform.com
Website: https://specialform.com
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kmcorbett
Professional Summary
Software architect and knowledge engineering specialist with decades of experience designing and building systems grounded in semantics, rules, and structured knowledge. Deep background in symbolic AI (OPS5, CLIPS, Jess, Prolog), RDF/OWL ontologies, SPARQL, SHACL, knowledge graph architecture, and information modeling.
My work spans enterprise data integration, financial analytics, healthcare systems, content management, and semantic web applications. I help organizations achieve clarity, interoperability, and intelligent automation by building well-governed ontologies, knowledge graphs, and reasoning workflows.
Founder of Special Form Software LLC, providing consulting, architecture, training, and hands-on development for semantics-driven systems.
Core Expertise
Knowledge Graph Engineering
- RDF, RDFS, OWL2, SKOS, SHACL
- GraphDB, Stardog, RDFLib
- Linked data publishing, schema integration, ontology alignment
Semantic Modeling & Ontology Design
- Domain modeling, conceptual modeling, governance frameworks
- R2RML, JSON-LD, schema.org, FIBO
AI / Symbolic Reasoning
- Rule-based systems (Jess, CLIPS, Prolog)
- Rule engines and deductive reasoning
- SHACL rules, SPARQL UPDATE pipelines
Software Architecture
- Distributed systems, APIs, metadata pipelines
- Python, Scala, Java, Common Lisp, Javascript
- Git-based workflow, test automation, CI/CD
- Google Cloud Platform, Azure, AWS
- Mac OS, iOS, Linux, Windows
Teaching & Professional Development
- Knowledge graph and semantics training
- Workshops and curriculum design
- Technical mentorship, architecture review
Recent Consulting Work (Selected)
Special Form Software LLC
Semantic systems design, ontology development, knowledge graph architecture, technical training
2008–present
- Designed semantic data models and reasoning workflows for decision-support systems
- Built RDF/OWL ontologies for financial, healthcare, and research data domains
- Created semantic model integration pipelines using GraphDB + SPARQL
- Advised product teams evaluating semantic web tooling and metadata strategy
Employment History
Knowledge Graph Conference — Student Community Manager and Teaching Assistant
2024-present
- Delivered workshops on OWL, RDF, SPARQL, and knowledge graph design patterns
dv01 / Fitch Solutions — Senior Software Architect
2021–2024
- Designed metadata and data-modeling approaches for large-scale financial analytics
- Implemented semantic modeling components to unify heterogeneous datasets
- Led architecture reviews and developer mentorship
ReactiveCore — Principal Architect
2017–2021
- Developed knowledge modeling and data integration strategies
- Rationalized domain concepts across multiple systems and APIs
Ciklum — Senior Engineering Lead
2016–2017
- Architected enterprise data pipelines for regulated domains
- Introduced semantic representations to support classification and analytics
Mphasis
2015-2016
- Translated business logic from subject matter experts to application rules logic
- Implemented rules logic for finance—AML/KYC/FINRA; created no-code customer-facing tools
- Trained/mentored sales engineers; led training on platform (OWL/DL/RDF, rules) and Agile practices (Scrum, JIRA, Git)
Nevo Technologies — Solutions Architect
2012–2014
- Led development of metadata-driven workflows
- Designed content-processing pipelines and rules-based logic systems
Earlier employers: Clozure/Verisk Health, m-Qube/Verisign, NetGenesis/SPSS, Harlequin Ltd., Lisp Machines Inc. (LMI), Interleaf, NetGenesis, HP/Apollo Computers, ATEX, ETS
Technical Skills
- Languages: Python, Java, Scala, Common Lisp, JavaScript, SQL
- Knowledge Graph Tools: GraphDB, RDFLib, Stardog, Protégé
- Semantic Web Standards: RDF, RDFS, OWL, SHACL, SKOS, SPARQL, JSON-LD, Turtle
- Rule Engines: Jess, CLIPS, Drools, SHACL
- Modeling & Architecture: Ontology design, conceptual modeling, information architecture
- Platforms: Linux, macOS, VMWare, Docker, GitHub, CI/CD tooling
- Other: API design, systems integration, ETL/ELT pipelines, metadata governance
Publications, Teaching & Community
- Volunteer, Knowledge Graph Conference, 2021–2024
- Active contributor to semantic web and ontology communities
- LinkedIn essayist on RDF/OWL, knowledge graphs, symbolic AI, and modeling practice
- Former participant in W3C working-group standards ecosystems (HTML, XML, XSLT)
Education
B.A. American Studies and English Literature, Princeton University
Additional coursework in Computer Science, U.Mass, Lowell
Focus: AI, logic programming, symbolic systems
Additional Interests
- Semantic content management
- Knowledge-driven automation
- Ontology-based decision support
- Music composition (folk/rock), guitar performance
- Cognitive modeling and reasoning systems
Contact
Special Form Software LLC
Email: kmcorbett@specialform.com
Website: https://specialform.com
Phone: (617) 620-6749
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kmcorbett