Tolga Aşansü

Senior Unity & Unreal Engineer with 15+ years of experience developing complex XR applications for industrial and military clients. Expert in Unity/C# and Unreal Engine/C++ — from programming and technical art to level design and system integration. Delivered award-winning VR demos, military training simulations, secure AR communication platforms, and immersive industrial experiences. Holder of two Augmented Reality patents.

02/2023 – Present Freelance Senior XR Developer

Self-Employed, Germany

• Immerza VR (Upwork, Unity3D/C#, Meta Quest 2): Relaxation app for people with sleep problems — calming scenarios (train journey, ocean voyage) with soothing music and sound effects. Full development: scene design, low-poly modelling, PBR materials, custom real-time rain shader.
• XR Map Explorer (Unity3D/C#, XReal): Multi-user XR application for industrial map visualisation — AR map inspection and VR avatar navigation.
• Recycling Machine UI/UX (Adobe XD, Qt/QML, After Effects): Interface redesign — reduced training time from hours to 30 seconds.
• AI tools (Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI, Adobe Firefly) integrated as a core part of the development workflow.

02/2023 – 01/2025 Senior Creative Developer (Remote)

HAVELSAN, Germany / Ankara

• Tractor VR (Unity3D): Tractor operators frequently ignored critical safety components, causing serious accidents. This VR simulation let them experience the consequences of these mistakes in a safe virtual environment, preventing real-world incidents.
• Firefighter MR (Unreal Engine): Mixed Reality training environment for realistic firefighting scenarios.
• 100% on-time delivery throughout fully remote collaboration.

12/2018 – 01/2025 Senior Software Engineer – XR / Technical Artist

HAVELSAN, Ankara, Türkiye

• AR Framework (Unity & Unreal Engine): Founding team member — one of two senior XR specialists on the initial team. Responsible for 2D/3D/video content, game-engine plugins, demos, and presentations. Discovered performance loss in early plugins and resolved it with a compute shader optimisation.
• Pilot VR Training (Unity3D): Ghost-flight system for pilots — processed 360° flight recordings for VR. Cockpit displays were unreadable due to FPS mismatch between camera and screen and changing light/shadow conditions: developed legible display designs during VR stitching. 200+ pilots now train independently, anywhere.
• SRTM Terrain Viewer (Unity3D): Commercial GIS services (ArcGIS, Mapbox) were unusable in defence industry due to data security constraints. Solution: download SRTM elevation data directly from source and render as heightmaps in Unity — fully on-premises.
• Havelcomm (Qt/QML + Adobe XD): UI/UX design and Qt/QML implementation for a secure AR-enabled communication platform — like Zoom/Teams but with AR features and enhanced security. Supported 50+ simultaneous users on a single server. Became especially valuable during the remote-work period from 2019 onwards.
• T38 VR Maintenance Training (Unreal Engine): VR training application for technicians learning to maintain T38 aircraft engines in a simulated factory environment.
• Medical Training AR (Unreal Engine): DICOM/VTK data integration and AR visualisation with ARCore for surgical training.
• Mentored junior engineers and associate developers; provided technical guidance and introduced them to XR projects.

05/2014 – 12/2018 Senior Software Engineer & Team Leader

Global Future Design Solutions, Ankara, Türkiye

• Car Repair Simulation (Unreal Engine): Full VR demo — optimised materials for photorealism, built the scene, programmed interactions and quest scenarios, designed UI/UX widgets. The demo won first prize at an industry competition.
• ATAK Helicopter Simulator (Unreal Engine): Military VR flight simulation — built the environment, adjusted the model for realistic control, integrated FMOD for authentic audio.
• TUSAŞ VR Showroom (Unreal Engine): Virtual trade show experience for Turkey's aerospace company — aircraft, helicopters, and satellites presented in an immersive environment without physical transport.
• Additional projects: architectural visualisation, real-time home configuration, military training simulations, and trade show experiences for industrial clients.
• Led 50+ XR projects across multiple roles: Level Designer, Software Developer, Technical Artist, 3D Modeller, Animator.
• As team leader, assigned tasks to interns and supported their participation in projects and their professional development.

06/2013 – 05/2014 Software Engineer

Reo-Tek, Ankara, Türkiye

• Developed 5 interactive Unity3D installations for museums (Kinect, RealSense, Arduino) — increased visitor engagement by 60%.

11/2011 – 06/2013 Software Engineer

AnelArge, Ankara, Türkiye

• Developed AR applications and interactive 3D solutions (Unity3D, C++, Java, Android).

11/2009 – 06/2011 Freelance Technical Animator

TRT (Turkish Radio and Television), Ankara, Türkiye

• Weekly broadcast animations and motion graphics (3DS Max, V-Ray, Arnold, After Effects, Vue) — 100% on-time delivery.

B.Sc. Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Baskent University, Ankara, Türkiye