You are here: the company » Who's who
Who's who: The people behind Exponent
Koen Maes - Director
Thanks to Koen’s thorough knowledge and strong engineering background, not to mention his enthusiasm for this specialised work,
Exponent has completed under his directorship an array of ropes courses and projects across the world over the past years. As a
contact person Koen actively devotes time to ERCA, the European Ropes Course Association. He also sits on the (C)EN Committee
and is a member of ERCA's Inspection Expert Group.
Bart Maes - Director
Bart is a qualified master sculptor. With his wide-ranging knowledge, creativity and perseverance, he is in charge of Exponent
together with Koen. Drawing from his extensive field experience, he works out new projects realistically and technically. He
has acquired in-depth know-how of the designing and digital technical drawing of aerial courses and other installations. This
is the first key link in the building process. He maintains contacts with the engineer, work organiser and building site
supervisors. Wherever necessary he runs the projects as well.
Inne Hendriks - Office
Inne’s background in various fields of tourism have given her the experience and knowledge necessary to make Exponent run
smoothly in terms of its organisation, communication, logistics, building site schedules and personnel. Among other things
she also does the day-to-day bookkeeping and maintains contacts with customers and suppliers.
Johan Buerms - Work organiser
After gaining years of experience within the company, Exponent found that Johan had much more to offer the business. Since then
he has been watching over work in the workshop and on the building sites. With a professional eye, he makes sure that our
projects are completed to the highest quality standards, perfectly and on time. Johan oversees projects all the way from design
to delivery.
Peter Geysemans - Design
Peter came to Exponent at a time when we needed extra workers for a project under construction. Several projects later he
relocated to the office to do what he does best. As an experienced graphical designer, the time he spent on building sites
provided valuable additional training for taking on responsibility for designs and presentations of new courses as well as
the graphical work.
Geert Verstraete - Inspections
For many years now, Geert has been diligently inspecting the trees in which we build structures. Qualified in social guidance
(with a degree from Leuven University), he has worked for Exponent as a trainer since 1997 and assists the construction team
as a freelancer. He is the premier specialist to rely upon thanks to his training as a tree carer (Helicon), with a thesis to
his name about ropes courses in trees in combination with his experience as a trainer and builder.
Luk Peeters - Exponent Challenge Services
Luk acts as the personal link between the two Exponent sister companies - Exponent Challenge Technology and Exponent Challenge
Services. Since 1985 he has been working as a trainer and programme coordinator in experimental outdoor programmes. In addition
to his work for Exponent as a trainer, Luk is a trainer in psychotherapy educational courses and an independent process supervisor.
He has a passion for working with groups, with a special interest in 'Adventure Therapy', in settings including educational ropes
courses.
Dirk Maes - Engineer
Dirk puts all our plans under the microscope for careful examination. With the benefit of his experience within this
specialised industry, this engineer is completely familiar with calculations of forces specific to ropes courses and
towers made of wood. He also has a thorough knowledge of laws and regulations that apply specifically to ropes courses.
Stef Geens
When Stef (°1958 - † 2006) set up Exponent, he had already been an internationally respected trainer for many years at
Outward Bound, where he did a great deal of work on a vision for and the effect of experience-driven learning. His qualifications
in physical education (a degree from Leuven University) and Experimental Education (MSU) gave him these competences. In 1993 he
realised that with the knowledge that he possessed he would be able to build a top rate ropes course. Exponent quickly found itself
undertaking projects from Istanbul to Lima as commercial demand grew. Early on Stef recognised that there was bound to be a demand
for belay systems to protect the public at large. Expoglider® was the first continuous belay system marketed for intensive usage.
This big leap forwards established Exponent even more firmly on the international market. Stef's love of life and intuition will
always stand as a source of inspiration for us as we go forward with Exponent.