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From nine to five, Andy Rothwell helps the city maintain geospatial data, but his time off is spent tapping into his creative side.
Rothwell, a longtime software engineer in the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation and Technology, pursued tech for more stability after a career in academia more than 13 years ago. Today, that reliability has given him the space to tap into his creative side and make music videos using nostalgic toys and electronics.
“Recognizing [something is] not going to work, and putting it down and maybe not picking it back up for a long time — I do that all the time.”
Some of his past videos include Monster Thrashin’ in 2015, featuring Muppet-like monsters doing skateboard tricks, and he’s even been hired by musical artists to make music videos.
He remains inspired by the challenge of learning new skills like 3D printing and laser cutting, plus figuring out how to turn his creative visions into reality, Rothwell told Technical.ly.
The feeling of problem-solving and creating something new is the common thread between his day job and his passion projects, according to Rothwell.
“Sometimes breaking through a bug is exactly like finishing a project or finishing a piece of a project,” he said.
In this edition of How I Got Here, Rothwell explains how he pursued a tech career, why he started making video projects and the importance of having a creative outlet.
This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
Why did you pivot from academia into tech?
I have a master’s degree in paleooceanography from the University of California. I studied why an ice age happened 400,000 years ago using a piece of coral. I ended up not really liking that career because it was a lot of writing papers and applying for things.
I didn’t want to write papers and grants, constantly wondering what the next year’s situation would be. I realized I can just have a job with stability instead of having to apply for more money next year to keep the job.
I really like writing code, and a day of doing work is much more enjoyable to me when it’s working on a website than it is writing a paper.
So, I got a master’s degree in geospatial information science from the University of Maryland. I got hired by the CityGeo group, on a team of people who got to write the front end of Atlas, a map that houses data from departments across the city.
Every day, a couple of us look at the feedback that came in overnight from the app. People report problems like a weird exception with a property line or a condo that isn’t showing the right documents.
I’ve watched over the years how the team has gotten to know each other, and it’s helped us work faster. If you see a data issue on Atlas, click the feedback button, tell us and by the next day, someone might be updating a record for you.
Why did you start making videos and do you have any examples of notable projects?
About 15 years ago, a friend had a $30 gift card to RadioShack and they asked me if I wanted it. I bought a little radio-controlled truck, and I thought my camera would fit perfectly in the bed of the truck.
I got some friends to go to the zoo and run through the zoo behind the truck. I knew a little bit about how to use Windows Movie Maker, so I cut all the footage together to the song Freeway by Philly’s own Kurt Vile.
After making that video, I kept thinking, what are other funny situations a toy car could be in? So I made another music video of me asking random adults in public to play with the toy truck — and that just kept going.
I think I also invented this kind of puppet, and I call it a loopy lips puppet. I put a photograph of Tom Petty’s face on cardboard cutouts, and I photoshopped away his mouth. I took a rubber band and put it where his mouth had been, and the rubber band was tied off on each side with a thread.
From behind and from the side, I could puppeteer it, so I could make Tom Petty sing.
I ended up making a lot of videos with this invention. I don’t know if somebody else has invented it, but I’ve never seen it before.
How have you continued to learn new skills over the years?
Eight years ago or so, I started taking classes at NextFab. I probably took 15 classes total in 3D design, 3D printing, electronics, woodworking and laser cutting.
Early in the pandemic, I started buying small, cheap versions of the machines that I was using at NextFab, like a little 3D printer, a little CNC machine and a router. I bought Arduino boards and a soldering iron so that I could try to make little electronic things.
With the help of YouTube, or even the instructions from a kit, learning each skill was trial and error until I figured it out.
How do you decide what videos to make?
Sometimes I just love a song and want to make a video for it.
Other times, especially as I got more into using tools, I wanted to make something that I’ve never seen anyone else make. I think to myself, I’ve gotten this far, what else could I do?
I’ll think of things that just make me laugh, like a toy car on a treadmill or a toy car on a pool table.
Do you have any advice for people wanting to pursue more creative projects?
It’s okay to waste a chunk of time trying something. Recognizing that’s not going to work, and putting it down and maybe not picking it back up for a long time — I do that all the time.
Every project is going to have that. If that makes you angry and you lose interest entirely, that’s the wrong reaction.