BCI DIRECTOR CV
Matt Lawrence, Director
Matt Lawrence
Director
Founded BCI in 1991 and today still serves as BCI president. Matt is part of the first wave of bungee entrepreneurs that entered the industry right at its infancy and has helped grow bungee jumping into what it is today.
In addition to being a pioneer in commercial bungee jumping operating, Matt has been a part of carrying out some of Canada's first commercial zipline projects at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, The Ripride at Great Canadian Bungee and most recently Interzip Rogers in downtown Ottawa.
Qualifications and Experience
After 33 years in the bungee industry, Matt’s CV resembles closely that of the industry in North America. The below list is a category by category sample of some of his highlights. There are numerous other achievements and experiences in each category that can be provided upon request.
Cord Design
Matt has been the head designer for bungee cords used by a worldwide list of bungee jumping sites. In addition he has designed cords for numerous high profile clients around the world for custom applications for science and research, military, and medical applications. Some clients include:
NASA
Royal Air Force (UK)
Warner Brothers (Yes Man- Jim Carrey feature film)
MTV (multiple)
NBC (Fear Factor)
NHL
Structure and Jump Deck Design
Although Matt does not have a formal engineering background, he has worked closely over the years with many engineers to pioneer bungee jumping strucutres and jump decks. Some highlights include:
Cantilever design
Extreme Machine design
Thunderdome Design
Jump decks for multiple different structure types
Man baskets for crane jumps
Equipment Design
Early in the development of bungee jumping, Matt worked with many different equipment designers, purchasing and testing various bungee jumping and similar use equipment, before eventually bringing equipment design and manufacturing under BCI’s company product offerings. Some highlights of designs Matt has lead include:
Jumper retrieval system design
Bungee cord retrieval system design
Site Operations
Matt opened Great Canadian Bungee (GCB) in 1992 and has served as the president and main company shareholder since this time. GCB has become North America’s most popular bungee jumping destination with thousands of clients from around the world participating ranging from young thrill seekers, to 90 year old grand-mothers to the sitting Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. Some of Matt’s site operations highlights include:
An exemplary GCB’s 33 year safety record
Development of many different site operations programs
Shareholder and co-director of Whistler Bungee
Co-director of BCI Works/ Interzip Rogers
Training
Matt was initially trained in bungee site operations by John and Peter Kockelman, sone of the inventors of modern day bungee jumping. Matt has also received numerous trainings over the years in high angle rescue and bungee rescue from Multi-Trek (Michel Goulet) as well as Rob Chisnall. Matt has lead the efforts in the refining and morernization of bungee jumping training creating packaged digestible training programs that have now been taught around the world. Some highlights of training included:
CBA/ NABA certified Jump Master
Completion of numerous courses, Technical Rope Rescue 1, First Aid CPR, NLS
Teaching bungee jumping in Chile, Finland, Costa Rica, China, Uganda, Ukraine and many others
Creation of the BCI Module program
Development of zipline training programs
Manufacturing
Since the early 1990’s Matt has been invloved in bungee cord manufacturing, including the building of bungee jumping cords by hand from start to finish. The hand-made process was replaced in 2003 with the design and fabrication of specialized cord-making equipment. Manufacturing training programs were developed to ensure a consistent and scalable product which are sold worldwide. Highlights include:
Development of the industry leading bungee jumping rubber formula
Development of the highest quality finished product bungee cords on the market
Perfect safety record with all equipment produced over 30 years
Safety Standards
Matt has been involved in the development of safety standards since the infancy of the industry in North America. Matt served as the president of the Canadian Bungee Association and was one of the CBA Code of Safe Practice’s principle authors. Matt also served on the bord of directors of the NABA and is currently one of the principle task group leads for the new ASTM bungee jumping standard, which will have an international scope. Some safety standard highlights include:
President of the CBA
Contributing author to the CBA Code of Safe Practice
NABA board member
Contributing author to the NABA Code of Safe Practice
ASTM international bungee standard task group contributor