Hi, I'm

Hardik Kotangale

AR / XR Engineer

Master's student at Indiana University Bloomington specializing in AR/XR engineering and full-stack development. I build immersive spatial experiences and scalable applications, turning complex ideas into reliable, high-impact products.

01
About Me

Shaping Reality,One Layer at aTime

I've always been fascinated by how people interact with technology, especially when it feels natural, immersive, and human. That curiosity led me into AR/XR and spatial computing, where I focus on building experiences that blend strong engineering with intuitive design. As a Master's student in Computer Science at Indiana University Bloomington, I've built immersive applications and scalable full-stack systems using C#, Unity, React, and modern 3D web technologies.

Along the way I've developed cross-platform C# applications across multiple device configurations, implemented automated testing and debugging workflows, and shipped production-ready systems built for reliability. What drives me most is shaping the future of spatial interaction creating AR/VR experiences that are not only innovative, but intuitive, dependable, and ready for real-world impact.

Academic Journey

Education

The academic path supporting my work in XR, AI, and software systems.

Master of Science in Computer Science

Indiana University Bloomington

GPA 3.83 / 4.0
Aug 2024 - May 2026

Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering

Savitribai Phule Pune University

GPA 8.83 / 10.0
Aug 2019 - May 2023
Professional Credentials

Certifications

Selected credentials across cloud, machine learning, security, and databases.

Project Workspace

Explore The

Spatial Build

Grid

all projects
Pinned Launches10
AI / ML · 2026
Adversary
Full-Stack AI Engineer
AI / ML

Adversary

A multi-agent AI debate platform that stress-tests startup pitches against a society of adversarial AI personas — VC, Engineer, and Customer — orchestrated live by an LLM with 18 domain specialists on call.

Next.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSS+11 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2026
Spline Visualization System
XR Developer
XR / AR

Spline Visualization System

An interactive Meta Quest 3 XR application for creating and sculpting Bezier, Catmull-Rom, and B-Spline curves in AR space using hand tracking and controller input.

UnityC#OpenXR+6 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2026
AR Geometric Projection System
AR / XR Developer
XR / AR

AR Geometric Projection System

A cross-platform AR/XR application that projects geometric shapes onto real-world surfaces across iOS, Android, and Meta Quest 3 using a unified interaction model.

UnityC#AR Foundation+6 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2026
BlockCraft AR
MR Developer
XR / AR

BlockCraft AR

A mixed-reality puzzle game for Meta Quest 3 where players draw geometric shapes in mid-air, extrude them into 3D objects, and solve spatial placement challenges in augmented reality.

UnityC#OpenXR+7 MORE
View Project
Systems · 2026
DB2 Workload Simulation Platform
Full-Stack Systems Engineer
Systems

DB2 Workload Simulation Platform

A full-stack platform for simulating configurable Db2 workloads, streaming live execution logs, and benchmarking database reliability under smoke, regression, and stress scenarios.

PythonFastAPIReact+6 MORE
View Project
AI / ML · 2026
Nexora Meeting Intelligence
AI Platform Engineer
AI / ML

Nexora Meeting Intelligence

A privacy-first local AI meeting platform that transcribes audio, extracts decisions and action items, and supports RAG chat without relying on cloud APIs.

DjangoReactTypeScript+9 MORE
View Project
Full-Stack · 2025
Vizionary Code Execution Platform
Platform Engineer
Full-Stack

Vizionary Code Execution Platform

A browser-based coding and visualization workspace for running Python and R in secure Docker containers with live plotting and multi-user support.

PythonRFlask+7 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2025
GeoAR Building Information System
AR / iOS Engineer
XR / AR

GeoAR Building Information System

A geolocation-aware iOS AR app that aligns nearby buildings in real time using sensor fusion, OpenStreetMap data, and camera-forward filtering.

UnityAR FoundationARKit+6 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2025
SpatialXR Interaction System
XR Systems Developer
XR / AR

SpatialXR Interaction System

A cross-platform spatial interaction framework supporting desktop simulation, mobile AR, and Meta Quest input patterns with shared real-time UI coordination.

UnityC#AR Foundation+5 MORE
View Project
AI / ML · 2023
Smart Parking ANPR System
Computer Vision Engineer
AI / ML

Smart Parking ANPR System

An AI-powered parking system using YOLOv8, OpenCV, and OCR to detect and read license plates in real time for automated vehicle management.

PythonYOLOv8OpenCV+4 MORE
View Project
Graduate Projects · Indiana University Bloomington13
AI / ML · 2026
Adversary
Full-Stack AI Engineer
AI / ML

Adversary

A multi-agent AI debate platform that stress-tests startup pitches against a society of adversarial AI personas — VC, Engineer, and Customer — orchestrated live by an LLM with 18 domain specialists on call.

Next.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSS+11 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2026
Spline Visualization System
XR Developer
XR / AR

Spline Visualization System

An interactive Meta Quest 3 XR application for creating and sculpting Bezier, Catmull-Rom, and B-Spline curves in AR space using hand tracking and controller input.

UnityC#OpenXR+6 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2026
AR Geometric Projection System
AR / XR Developer
XR / AR

AR Geometric Projection System

A cross-platform AR/XR application that projects geometric shapes onto real-world surfaces across iOS, Android, and Meta Quest 3 using a unified interaction model.

UnityC#AR Foundation+6 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2026
BlockCraft AR
MR Developer
XR / AR

BlockCraft AR

A mixed-reality puzzle game for Meta Quest 3 where players draw geometric shapes in mid-air, extrude them into 3D objects, and solve spatial placement challenges in augmented reality.

UnityC#OpenXR+7 MORE
View Project
Systems · 2026
DB2 Workload Simulation Platform
Full-Stack Systems Engineer
Systems

DB2 Workload Simulation Platform

A full-stack platform for simulating configurable Db2 workloads, streaming live execution logs, and benchmarking database reliability under smoke, regression, and stress scenarios.

PythonFastAPIReact+6 MORE
View Project
AI / ML · 2026
Nexora Meeting Intelligence
AI Platform Engineer
AI / ML

Nexora Meeting Intelligence

A privacy-first local AI meeting platform that transcribes audio, extracts decisions and action items, and supports RAG chat without relying on cloud APIs.

DjangoReactTypeScript+9 MORE
View Project
Data / Viz · 2025
Bloomington Waste Dashboard
Data Visualization Engineer
Data / Viz

Bloomington Waste Dashboard

An interactive civic analytics dashboard visualizing Bloomington waste requests, service hotspots, monthly trends, and category-specific demand patterns.

PythonPlotlyggplot2+4 MORE
View Project
Full-Stack · 2025
Vizionary Code Execution Platform
Platform Engineer
Full-Stack

Vizionary Code Execution Platform

A browser-based coding and visualization workspace for running Python and R in secure Docker containers with live plotting and multi-user support.

PythonRFlask+7 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2025
GeoAR Building Information System
AR / iOS Engineer
XR / AR

GeoAR Building Information System

A geolocation-aware iOS AR app that aligns nearby buildings in real time using sensor fusion, OpenStreetMap data, and camera-forward filtering.

UnityAR FoundationARKit+6 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2025
SpatialXR Interaction System
XR Systems Developer
XR / AR

SpatialXR Interaction System

A cross-platform spatial interaction framework supporting desktop simulation, mobile AR, and Meta Quest input patterns with shared real-time UI coordination.

UnityC#AR Foundation+5 MORE
View Project
Systems · 2025
Cloud Lifecycle Governance Platform
Cloud Systems Engineer
Systems

Cloud Lifecycle Governance Platform

A cloud-native governance system for validating specifications, enforcing security policy, and managing Kubernetes-based private-cloud deployments.

GoKubernetesGitHub Actions+4 MORE
View Project
XR / AR · 2024
Crystal Cavern Exploration
Graphics Developer
XR / AR

Crystal Cavern Exploration

A computer graphics project featuring procedural crystal generation, custom shaders, real-time lighting, and an interactive navigation HUD.

C#UnityGLSL Shaders+3 MORE
View Project
Systems · 2024
Point of Contact Collaboration API
Backend Developer
Systems

Point of Contact Collaboration API

A REST API for centralizing product and repository contact ownership, reducing internal search time and improving cross-team communication.

PythonFirebase Realtime DatabaseREST API+3 MORE
View Project
Undergraduate Projects · Savitribai Phule Pune University5
Full-Stack · 2023
Luv2Shop E-Commerce Platform
Full-Stack Developer
Full-Stack

Luv2Shop E-Commerce Platform

A full-stack e-commerce experience with an Angular frontend, Spring Boot backend, and MySQL-driven order and customer management.

Angular.jsTypeScriptHTML5+8 MORE
View Project
AI / ML · 2023
Smart Parking ANPR System
Computer Vision Engineer
AI / ML

Smart Parking ANPR System

An AI-powered parking system using YOLOv8, OpenCV, and OCR to detect and read license plates in real time for automated vehicle management.

PythonYOLOv8OpenCV+4 MORE
View Project
Full-Stack · 2023
Oytie Learning Management System
Frontend Lead
Full-Stack

Oytie Learning Management System

A React-based LMS with Firebase-backed authentication and real-time data, designed and delivered for more than 50 users.

ReactTypeScriptJavaScript+5 MORE
View Project
AI / ML · 2022
AI-Paint Gesture Canvas
Computer Vision Developer
AI / ML

AI-Paint Gesture Canvas

A gesture-controlled digital painting application that uses computer vision to turn hand movement into brush, color, and canvas controls.

PythonOpenCVComputer Vision+2 MORE
View Project
Mobile · 2022
Blind-O-Voice Accessibility App
Android Developer
Mobile

Blind-O-Voice Accessibility App

An Android voice-command app that helps visually impaired users handle calling, messaging, reminders, and daily productivity tasks independently.

JavaAndroid StudioAndroid SDK+2 MORE
View Project
all projects
04
Experience

Career Journey

Software Engineer

Project 990

Feb 2026 – Present
Part-timeWashington D.C

Engineering distributed LLM systems and production-grade full-stack infrastructure for large-scale nonprofit document intelligence, with a focus on pipeline reliability, trust and safety tooling, and secure cloud deployment.

  • Engineered a 3-stage distributed LLM pipeline processing 175,000+ nonprofit Form 990 records using Mistral-7B and Gemma-7B, orchestrated via Slurm on BigRed200 HPC with 1,000-row parallel batches, idempotent checkpointing, and structured observability logging for full pipeline reliability.
  • Built a production full-stack web application deployed on AWS with JWT access + refresh token auth, session invalidation, a 3-tier RBAC system (global_supervisor, local_supervisor, subaccount), user reporting, appeal flows, moderator dashboard, content flagging, and DuckDB analytical queries over Parquet-backed foundation data.
  • Hardened the production codebase by consolidating 3 duplicate model interfaces into shared Python libraries, migrating 12+ hardcoded credentials to secure environment-based config, and building an end-to-end unit, integration, and system test suite to surface logic gaps before every deployment.
PythonMistral-7BGemma-7BSlurmHPCReactFlaskSQLite3DuckDBAWSJWTRBACPrompt EngineeringLLM Evaluation

Graduate Research Assistant

Indiana University

Jan 2026 – May 2026
Research AssistantBloomington, IN

Developed cross-platform AR/XR applications in Unity across mobile and headset devices, with a focus on spatial interaction, real-time rendering, and production-grade deployment reliability.

  • Built a cross-platform AR/VR/MR application deployed across 4 platforms (Meta Quest 3, iOS ARKit, Android ARCore, Unity XR Simulator) from a single C# + OpenXR codebase with Unity 2022.x and AR Foundation, achieving zero per-device build fragmentation.
  • Implemented high-fidelity hand-tracking and complex interactions (grab, poke, ray-cast, distance-grab) across all target devices using Unity XR Interaction Toolkit and Meta XR SDK with custom C# interaction patterns.
  • Achieved stable frame rates across all target devices with zero regressions before every deployment by optimizing URP, GPU HLSL shaders, and procedural mesh generation using Unity's Profiler.
UnityC#AR FoundationARKitARCoreOpenXRXR Interaction ToolkitMeta XR SDKShaderLabHLSLURPProcedural Mesh Generation

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Indiana University

Aug 2025 – Jan 2026
Teaching AssistantBloomington, IN

Taught real-time graphics, XR development, and software engineering practices to graduate students through technical mentorship, structured code reviews, and hands-on project guidance.

  • Mentored 10+ students in software development and computer graphics with 1:1 feedback on code quality, debugging, and design.
  • Guided multiple AR and MR teams through the full SDLC using C# and Unity.
  • Supported project execution from requirements gathering through testing, documentation, and iteration.
C#UnityComputer GraphicsARMRMentorshipSDLC

Junior Software Developer

Oytie Learning IT Training Academy

Jan 2023 – Apr 2023
IntershipPune, India

Built and shipped a React + TypeScript learning platform while leading a 10-member team through frontend, backend, authentication, and delivery planning.

  • Built and shipped a React + TypeScript LMS serving 50+ users with responsive UI, Firebase backend, role-based authentication, real-time data sync, and REST API integration — leading a 10-member Agile team through 3 sprint cycles with zero critical bugs at launch.
  • Engineered 10+ reusable React components and a shared component library achieving 40% faster feature delivery and reduced UI defect rates across releases through structured code reviews and unit testing pipelines.
ReactTypeScriptFirebaseREST APIsReact RouterUnit TestingAgile
05
Capability Constellation

Spatial Command Grid

A focused map of the tools, platforms, and engineering systems behind the immersive products I build across XR, AI, data, and full-stack development.

Web

Frontend & Web

UI frameworks, 3D web, and shader work

React / Next.js

TypeScript

Three.js

React Three Fiber

GLSL Shaders

AI

AI & LLMs

Machine learning and language models

LangChain

Prompt Engineering

Multi-Agent Systems

TensorFlow

Scikit-learn

Lang

Programming Languages

Languages across the full stack

Python

JavaScript

C#

Java

C++

R

Data

Backend & Databases

Servers, APIs, and database systems

Node.js / Express

PostgreSQL

MongoDB

Redis

MySQL

Cloud

Cloud & Infrastructure

Cloud platforms and DevOps tooling

AWS

Docker

Terraform

CI/CD

XR

XR & Spatial

Headsets, AR runtimes, and spatial SDKs

Unity 6

Meta Quest / OpenXR

WebXR Device API

ARKit & ARCore

Tools

Tools & DevOps

Dev tooling, version control, system design

Git

Linux

System Design

VS Code

06
Publications

Research & Publications

Teaching Rendering and Modeling with AR/XR in Computer Graphics Courses

ITiCSE 2026

Mitja Hmeljak et al.

Jul 9, 2026Conference

Introductory Computer Graphics (CG) courses typically cover geometric modeling, illumination, and collision detection using graphics APIs or engines. However, traditional assignments rarely allow direct comparison between real-world spatial interaction and lighting with rendered scenes. This poster presents cross-platform Extended Reality (XR) coursework that expands introductory CG exercises by enabling object manipulation and lighting-aware rendering in real environments.

XRARComputer GraphicsUnityAR FoundationCS Education
View Publication

Identification of Alzheimer Detection Using Hybrid Machine Learning Approach

International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology

Sep 8, 2023Journal

The paper introduces a solution for Alzheimer's disease detection through a Hybrid Machine Learning Approach. Additionally, we present a machine learning model system designed to reduce diagnostic time and improve accuracy, offering significant advancements in Alzheimer's disease identification.

Machine LearningHealthcare AIAlzheimer's DetectionHybrid MLMedical Imaging
View Publication
Peer Recognition

What People

Are Saying

"
Managed directlyJune 2026

I first worked with Hardik in Fall 2024, when he was a student in the Advanced Computer Graphics course I teach in the Computer Science Department at Indiana University. He was among the top-performing students in the course, demonstrating a solid understanding of computer graphics, extended reality (XR), and software development using the Unity engine.

Based on his excellent performance, I offered Hardik the role as Teaching Assistant for the Advanced Computer Graphics and Interactive Graphics courses. In this role, he conducted weekly laboratory sessions, developed XR programming exercises, and worked closely with students to help them understand advanced graphics and XR concepts through practical software development. He was consistently reliable, proactive, and effective in communicating technically challenging material.

Hardik later completed an independent study under my supervision, investigating and implementing cross-platform XR functionalities using Unity and AR Foundation, evaluating platform-specific capabilities and limitations, while developing practical software solutions and reusable instructional material for mobile and head-mounted XR platforms. Throughout the project, he demonstrated strong analytical ability, independent initiative, and software engineering skills. His work contributed directly to course material for subsequent offerings, and our collaboration resulted in a peer-reviewed conference poster.

Having worked with Hardik as a student, Teaching Assistant, and independent study researcher, I have consistently found him to be technically strong, reliable, and thoughtful in his approach to software development. He communicates complex technical ideas clearly, works effectively both independently and as part of a team, and approaches challenging engineering problems methodically. I recommend him without hesitation for opportunities involving computer graphics, XR/AR, and cross-platform interactive software development.

MH

Mitja Hmeljak

Senior Lecturer · Indiana University

06
Contact

Let's Build
Together

Got a breakthrough project idea, a contract opportunity, or just want to talk spatial computing? I am always excited to connect with visionary builders and studios to shape the future.

~/comms/hardik

Mobile Line

+1 930 333 6119

Current Base

Bloomington, Indiana

Primary Inbox

hardik.kotangale@gmail.com

© 2026 HARDIK. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

System Online

Attribution: This site uses the "Meta Quest 3" 3D model by Elin, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution. "Meta" and "Meta Quest" are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. This portfolio is not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by Meta Platforms, Inc.