New York, USA, 11215 • sayrakurtoglu@gmail.com • 646-796-7354
Sayra Kurtoglu
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Spatial Computing Designer and Creative Technologist with 3+ years of experience in UI/UX fundamentals, wearable interfaces, and AR/VR spatial UI. Expert in immersive product design across Unity, Unreal Engine, Meta XR, and Snapchat Lens Studio platforms. Proven track record designing AR wayfinding systems, VR game experiences, and generative AI video installations, combining architectural thinking with hands-on XR development to create intuitive spatial interfaces.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT, SPATIAL AI & XR
New York Institute of Technology Sep 2025 - Present
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Lead cross-disciplinary research on AI, spatial computing and AR/VR developing novel interaction paradigms for immersive
environments for devices such Snap Spectacles, Meta Quest, and Apple Vision Pro.
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Design image & video AI generation workflows for two Italian Embassy (London) generative video installations, ensuring cohesive
art direction and style consistency across immersive displays.
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Co-organize workshops and UI/UX design sprints bridging creative technology, spatial experience design, and visual innovation.
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST
Femme Fatale Studio, Sismopolis Jun 2024 - Sep 2025
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Led digital product concept development, contributing to visual direction and asset creation for immersive experiences.
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Developed custom 3D assets in Blender and AI workflows to create immersive visuals and spatial interaction cues.
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Translated storytelling, UI inspiration, and spatial design into functional prototypes through rapid, cross-disciplinary iteration.
3D ENVIRONMENT ARTIST
Leartes Studios Oct 2023 - Jun 2024
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Optimized Unreal Engine 5 assets for Unity HDRP/URP engine with performance-focused optimization for real-time XR rendering.
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Self-led two environment packages from scene build to polish (shaders, lighting, VFX, optimization), publishing on Unity Asset Store.
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Built shader graphs, lighting/post-processing setups, and produced animations and renders for product showcases.
EDITOR, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Arkitera Architecture Center & RAF Aug 2022 - Oct 2023
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Produced and edited 30+ pieces of content monthly for website and social media platforms.
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Managed all editorial stages of RAF Product Magazine Issues 95 & 96.
EDUCATION
MASTER OF ARTS, UX/UI DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT / Sep 2025 - Jan 2027
New York Institute of Technology / New York, USA
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE, HONORS / Aug 2018 - Jun 2022
Istanbul Technical University / Istanbul, Turkey
LINKS
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com, Portfolio: sayrakurtoglu.com.
SKILLS
Snapchat Lens Studio (Experienced), Meta XR SDK (Experienced), Unity HDRP/URP (Experienced), Unreal Engine (Experienced), Blender (Expert), Figma (Expert), Wearable Interfaces (Experienced), C# (Unity) (Experienced), JavaScript (Lens Studio) (Experienced), Adobe Photoshop (Experienced), Adobe Premiere Pro (Experienced), Framer (Experienced), 3D Environment Art (Experienced), Shader Development (Experienced) User Research (Experienced), UI Design Fundamentals (Experienced).
WORKSHOPS & ACTIVITIES
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MIT Reality Hack 2026 - Hacker
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NYIT x Marcolin Masterclass: "Visions Reframed" Workshop
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NYC FIRST STEM Center @Cornell Tech - 3D Design Blender Workshop
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ITU Game & Interaction Technologies MSc Game Studio - Guest 3D Game Artist
COURSES
UX DESIGN FOUNDATIONS
HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION DESIGN
USER INTERFACE AND PROTOTYPING DESIGN
UX/UI DESIGN FOR VR/AR/MR
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE & CONTENT STRATEGY
UX RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYTICS
UNITY DESIGN
LANGUAGES
English (Highly proficient), Turkish (Native).
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES
Sung Kevin Park
Chair, Department of Digital Art and Design
Phone: (212) 261-1741
Email: spark13@nyit.edu
Swati Panda
User Experience Researcher, Google
Email: spanda02@nyit.edu
Vik Parth
Research Affiliate, MIT
Phone: (281) 838-2294
Email: vikparthiban@gmail.com
Product designer
building across digital, physical, and AI experiences.
A spatial way of thinking,
A hands-on way of making.
My background in architecture and 3D environment art shapes how I approach product design. I think in systems, how things connect, how people interact with them, and how complex experiences can become intuitive.
Architecture taught me to design within constraints and across scales. 3D gave me the tools to explore ideas through form, space, and interaction. Today, I apply that thinking across digital products, physical experiences, and AI-powered interfaces.
Working at the intersection of design, engineering, and AI, I use generative prototyping and code-assisted design to turn ideas into working, production-quality interfaces. I know where AI accelerates the process and where human judgment makes the difference.
I take ownership from research and user flows to design systems and shipped front-end, combining spatial thinking with hands-on execution to build products that work as thoughtfully as they feel.