Toolpath
• 58 min
#15 Chips and Tips — Dr. Yavuz Murtezaoglu of ModuleWorks
Chips and Tips Podcast
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From humble beginnings in a small German town to leading a 400-person company revolutionizing toolpath technology, Dr. Yavuz Murtezaoglu's story is one of relentless innovation and technical mastery. In this episode, Justin sits down with the ModuleWorks CEO to uncover the early days of five-axis toolpath development, building software without a playbook, and creating a visual collision control system that changed the game.
Dr. Yavuz Murtezaoglu of ModuleWorks episode summary
When Justin from Toolpath met up with Yavuz Murtezaoglu, CEO of ModuleWorks, it was clear this wasn’t going to be your average tech founder story. Yavuz has spent nearly 30 years solving some of CNC machining's toughest challenges, starting back in the mid-1990s, working on five-axis algorithms in a small German town known for machine tool research.
Back then, Yavuz was coding on a 486 processor, developing software for electric car prototypes with over 200 individual trimmed surfaces. CAM systems couldn't handle the complexity, so he built one from scratch. That kind of fearless problem-solving didn't just define his career, it helped launch ModuleWorks in the early 2000s. His first challenge? Create a five-axis toolpath solution with no blueprint and no collision control, then train customers to use it by watching visual simulations.
"They cannot go further with mesh. So they had to work on NURBS and even NURBS had to have a super quality" — Dr. Yavuz Murtezaoglu
What stood out in this episode was how Yavuz approached limits. He didn't wait for hardware or CAM systems to catch up, he simplified where he could, added tilt where needed, and introduced "visual collision control" as a workaround when traditional solutions were impossible. That mentality led to features machinists still rely on today.
"We have the ambition that no customer should wait more than a few minutes even for the largest and most complicated tool path" — Dr. Yavuz Murtezaoglu
Justin and Yavuz also reflect on how far we’ve come. What once took two weeks to program now takes 10 seconds. But even as technology automates more of the process, there's a deep appreciation for the hands-on skill and engineering insight that built this industry. Yavuz’s heart is still in the code, even if his role is now on the business side.
For anyone interested in the real-world evolution of CAM software, and what it takes to build tools machinists actually use, this episode is a must-listen. It's a reminder that behind every breakthrough is a series of tough problems someone decided not to walk away from.
