Manager, DI Strategy & Planning Department, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Yoshiaki Sonoda is a founding member of the EXPRESS Language Foundation. He is the Manager of the DI Strategy & Planning Department at the Digital Innovation Headquarters of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), and the leader of the company’s International Standardization Strategy Task Force, which covers a broad range of manufacturing industry domains, including power plants, shipbuilding, aerospace, and defense.
Current Roles
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Manager, DI Strategy & Planning Department, Digital Innovation Headquarters, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
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Leader, International Standardization Strategy Task Force, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (since 1989)
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Convenor, ISO/TC 184/SC 4/WG 25 — ISO CDD Validation Team (since 2025)
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Deputy Convenor, ISO/TC 184/SC 4/WG 3 — Oil, Gas, Process and Power (since 2025)
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Deputy Convenor, ISO/TC 184/SC 4 – IEC/TC 3/SC 3D JWG 24 — Use of IEC CDD for ISO data dictionaries and ontologies (since 2024)
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Project Leader, ISO 15926-6
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Chairman, International Standards Committee, Engineering Advancement Association of Japan (since 2012)
Awards
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Industrial Standardization Project Award — Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (2022), for his long-time contribution to advancing industry through standardization activities
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Association Achievement Award — Engineering Advancement Association of Japan (2023), for his contribution to the engineering industry
Background
Yoshiaki specializes primarily in information technology supporting more than 700 products in MHI’s manufacturing domains, and has been supporting their revolutions in R&D activities for 35 years. He participates in numerous committees at ISO and IEC as an expert.
Additionally, he has been involved in organizational culture reform for over 10 years, drawing on his knowledge of modern military organizational strategies and East Asian philosophies — particularly Confucianism, Shintoism, Buddhism, and Sun Tzu.
Publications
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Carbon Neutral and International Standardisation (図解でわかるカーボンニュートラル×国際標準化) — co-written with Mr. Tsutsui and Dr. Tsunoda. Available from Amazon.