My name is Maximilian Bechtold. I’m a technical writer by day, but I moonlight as a quack philosopher, computer scientist, and mathematician. I grew up in St. Louis Park (a small suburb in Minnesota), and I currently live in Minneapolis, MN.
My career
I’ve worked as a technical writer at Splunk, Inc. since July 2023. If you aren’t familiar with the profession, a technical writer is essentially someone who writes instructions and tutorials (think about the people who wrote your IKEA guide).
I primarily work on our documentation for the OpenTelemetry Collector, but I also write docs for our dashboards and detectors, as well as our API.
The earlier days
Before I became a technical writer, I worked as a writing consultant (a tutor) at the University of Minnesota Center for Writing for two years. In this role, I helped students write all kinds of things, from resumes and cover letters to lab reports and dissertations.
I also worked as a barista throughout my first two years of college.
Education
I studied for my undergrad degree at the University of Minnesota, where I earned a B.A. in Philosophy and a minor in Computer Science. I sometimes refer to this minor as an “almost degree” in computer science.
My academic interests include:
- Logic and philosophy of math
- Epistemology
- Foundations of mathematics
- Speech and rhetoric
- Writing consultancy and writing education
I graduated class of 2023 with high distinction, which is the summa cum laude for students who didn’t do honors.
Hobbies and interests
In my free time, I enjoy playing Dungeons and Dragons and similar TTRPGs. I also play a lot of video games – my favorite series is Dark Souls.
When I’m not playing games of some sort, I like studying random topics in math, computer science, philosophy, and science. Currently, I’m making my way through a real analysis book, and I don’t think I’ll finish it anytime soon.
I also like watching basketball, football, and occasionally soccer. Cheering for the Minnesota Vikings tends to make me miserable, so I often need to take breaks from sports.