Unreal Engine 5, the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D tool, is helping companies like Pennoni, Geopogo, and Smart Spatial deliver cutting-edge visuals and interactive experiences that bridge conceptual design and real-world execution.
We spoke to the teams behind the scenes to discover how Unreal Engine is bringing value to their stakeholders, clients, and surrounding communities.
Real-World Applications of Unreal Engine 5
At a recent ASCE event, Pennoni shared how the game engine is helping their visual effects division (PFX Studios) communicate feasibility studies and win infrastructure business.
“With UE5, we can render elaborate shots in a fraction of the time that it would have taken in our previous software while staying lightweight in file size and computing performance, so clients can see their designs evolve in real time,” says Joseph Spadea, PE, Associate VP at Pennoni. “With built-in version control in the engine, we can also have multiple people working within one project without anyone stepping on another’s toes or overwriting progress.”
Similarly, Smart Spatial, a startup that aims to revolutionize industry standards governing how people interact with physical infrastructure, uses Unreal Engine to create real-time digital twins of complex operational and commercial environments.
By pixel streaming real-world data and high-fidelity 3D applications directly to clients without any heavy-duty hardware, they’re serving customers in ways that make immediate sense to them.
“Whether it’s a data center or a railway control hub, our customers can see a spatially accurate digital twin of their facility—using their browser or even a phone—and they immediately ‘get it’,” says Dennis Khvostionov, Chief Technology Officer at Smart Spatial. “We can bring 3D to life in ways that were simply not possible just a few years ago and can interact with data like never before.”
Mike Hoppe, Creative Director at Geopogo, who focuses on democratizing and expanding the frontiers of technology with their COTS product Geopogo Cities, also says that real-time technology is changing the way they interact with users.
“Unreal Engine 5 tackles significant challenges for us, especially in visualization and presentation. Previously, rendering photorealistic, large-scale architectural models was a slow, resource-heavy task,” says Hoppe. “With UE5’s real-time rendering and optimization tools, we—and our Geopogo Cities users—can now visualize sprawling urban environments effortlessly, even at scale.”
The Impact of Unreal Engine on Civil Engineering
So what impact is this technology having on the business of engineering and construction? According to Hoppe, Unreal Engine 5 is providing a distinct competitive edge.
“Working with a real-time engine allows for scalability that fuels innovation and delivers faster. At the same time, it communicates ideas clearly and persuasively to clients, engineers, and decision-makers, accelerating approvals and fostering collaboration.”
Khvostionov knows that Smart Spatial using a game engine to solve complex infrastructure problems is something that most of the industry doesn’t yet understand.
“That gives us a unique position in the market, especially as firms race to modernize with shrinking talent pools and aging infrastructure,” he says. “UE delivers fast, beautiful, and functionally powerful solutions that others simply can’t replicate with traditional tools.”
Spadea agrees. “Not only has our adoption of Unreal given us an edge on other competitors, but we have also been working with our clients and partners to train them within Unreal after seeing our work.”
Hoppe adds that UE5’s real-time rendering and scalability enables them to deliver a more visually captivating and technically sound product. “This attracts clients and reinforces trust in our capacity to tackle ambitious, larger-scale projects, keeping us ahead in the market.”
For the wider industry, Unreal Engine is playing a vital role in helping government entities like DOTs make informed decisions on designs and how they will be implemented within communities, bridging the divide between technical plans and public comprehension.
“For taxpayers, it transforms abstract site plans and engineering jargon into vivid, interactive 3D visualizations, clarifying what their votes — or tax dollars — support, from transit hubs to parks and urban redevelopment projects,” says Hoppe. “By replacing 2D drawings and limited-viewpoint renderings with dynamic, 3D digital twins and unlimited perspectives, the UE5 component of Geopogo Cities fosters confidence, empowering taxpayers to envision the future of their communities and the tangible impact of infrastructure investments.”
Khvostionov emphasizes that the use of real-time technology goes beyond cool visuals.
“Unreal Engine helps infrastructure projects become more transparent and efficient,” he says. “That means fewer delays, smarter budgeting, and more accountable spending. It also helps government stakeholders, and the public truly see what’s being proposed or built. And from a workforce perspective, it’s critical. Many facility managers are aging out, and tools like UE help attract and train the next generation.”
Spadea also sees the value of real-time technology in the infrastructure space.” When we show clients, projects made using UE that are similar to their needs, they are often surprised, as they assume the technology is only used for game development.
By demonstrating how Pennoni leverages Unreal Engine to produce final-pixel quality visuals in a fraction of the time compared to traditional workflows — without the need for a massive budget — we’re not just helping them,” Spadea says. “We believe it is helping the industry as a whole, and that the future with Unreal Engine 5 is very exciting.”