Under Direction of New Vice President, William Nash MONTREAL, QC -- August 9th, 2002 -- Escher-Grad Technologies Inc. is proud to announce that William Nash has recently joined Escher-Grad as Vice-President. Mr. Nash's appointment follows the 1.5 million dollar expansion of Escher-Grad's manufacturing operations late last year. In addition to his main responsibilities, which include manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, and logistics, Mr. Nash will be an important contributor to future product development plans. In these tough economic times where many companies are downsizing, Escher-Grad is reaping the benefits of years of research and development with the Cobalt-series of violet platesetters, a product line on the cutting edge of technology that provides users high quality, low cost solutions for their prepress needs. Escher-Grad's rapid growth and increased sales have necessitated a swift ramp-up of the manufacturing facilities. Under Nash's direction, manufacturing capacity has been expanded to 80 units per month to meet present and projected demand. "We are pleased Bill has joined us during this period of rapid growth," said Najeeb Khalid, President and CEO of Escher-Grad Technologies Inc. " His years of management experience and extensive knowledge in high technology manufacturing operations will be a great asset to Escher-Grad." Mr. Nash comes to Escher-Grad with over 20 years of manufacturing experience. He possesses exceptional knowledge in high technology and is one of the few individuals with broad experience in his field. The former Vice President of Manufacturing for Eicon Technology from 1985 to 2001, he grew the production from a few units per month to 50,000 units per month with manufacturing and logistics spread over the globe. Prior to Eicon, Mr. Nash was with Philips, manufacturing word processors and computers. He began his career in the early 80's with AM International, eventually managing the Field Service Department for Varityper photo-typesetting equipment. The Cobalt-series of violet CTP systems are the culmination of 16 years of research, design and manufacturing excellence. Available in both 4-up and 8-up models, the Cobalt CTP Series platesetters will image both silver-based and photopolymer plates at the highest quality and speed possible, at a price less than most imagesetters. With no special power requirements, no darkrooms to build, no costly air-conditioning systems to install and no power-hungry ovens to run, Cobalt-CTP Systems will connect to any existing prepress workflow, preserving investment in software and manpower. Established in 1986, Montreal-based Escher-Grad designs, manufactures and markets advanced, high-resolution laser imaging systems solutions that markedly increase productivity for the graphic arts and printed circuit board industries. All products are backed by a worldwide sales and support network with systems installed in more than 35 countries around the world.