My name is Ben Collins. I’m a software engineer, father, husband, and Christ-follower. I blog about technology and code of course, but also occasionally about my faith, politics, or random things that interest me (like Star Wars!).

Background

I graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science from Texas A&M University - College Station (The University), and then soon after with a M.Eng.1 in Computer Engineering2. I also got married during these years to the girl I had a crush on throughout 8-12th grades.

Out of school I moved to Greenville, Texas. Why? Well…mostly because it’s home. I grew up in neighboring Farmersville, where my parents still live. My wife is from Greenville, where her parents and extended family still live. I was able to get a job at the L-3 Communications facility there writing embedded software for airborne signal processing platforms, which I did for about 3 1⁄2 years.

After that, I decided to try something different and joined a small consulting agency out of Dallas through a connection with my friend, Damon Armstrong.

Later, I had an opportunity to work for a startup (also in Dallas), and that was unique adventure, but also one that didn’t end like we hoped - but I soon found myself working for Stack Overflow (then going by Stack Exchange) as a developer on the Q&A team.

I left Stack Overflow in 2015 and founded my own services company, Trinity Republic, where we built applications for clients who need them. Since then, I’ve joined up full-time with Olo as a senior software engineer working on ways to make your online food-ordering experience better.

Random Personal Tidbits

I am interested in the minutae of an absurd range of topics. I love sci-fi, and have lots of strong opinions about a variety of things. I have 7 beautiful children in whom my wife and I are heavily invested as homeschooling parents. I have aspirations of learning Spencerian script, some languages (Spanish, Mandarin, Gaelic), and being a competitive athlete (crossfit or triathlon). I fancy myself as a capable do-it-yourselfer (leading me, perhaps delusionally, to buy a home built in 1912). I am active in local politics, where I serve as an appointed official for my city. Also, I bought a little Bitcoin, which means I’m a qualified expert in all topics related to finance, investing, and monetary policy ;-)

My faith

I believe in a real, personal God (i.e., he is actually a person), a historical Jesus who was crucified in a supreme act of love to provide a path for reconciliation with God to an irreconcilably corrupt human race, and then rose back to physical life as proof of this work and a foundation for hope in him.

  1. I actually was close to completing a Master of Science and had done a lot of the work toward completing my thesis, but switched near the end to the Master of Engineering so that I could graduate sooner and get a job to provide for my wife and soon-to-be-born twin son and daughter. [return]
  2. I chose computer engineering for my master’s program instead of computer science because the degree plan was more flexible. [return]