San Jose CA - December 5, 2006 - Olympus Integrated Technologies America (Olympus-ITA), a subsidiary of Olympus Corporation of Japan and a leader in quality inspection and defect review systems, announced that Greg Baker has been named as its president. Most recently Olympus-ITA's chief operating office, Baker has also held the positions of director of marketing and vice president of engineering and applications during his five years with Olympus. Baker has over 20 years of management and engineering experience in the semiconductor equipment industry.

Under Baker's direction, sales have grown threefold in the last two years. The product line has expanded to include automated defect review and inspection. In addition, his team developed the software architecture being used for multiple Olympus product lines.

"The North American semiconductor market has increased in importance globally," said Olympus Semiconductor Chairman and CEO, Akimasa Wakabayashi. "Since joining Olympus, Greg has been instrumental in establishing a roadmap and in developing the software and the products for Olympus' semiconductor inspection and defect review equipment. Sales of Olympus-ITA division have grown considerably under his direction. We are pleased he has accepted the position of Olympus-ITA president."

Prior to Olympus, Baker held the position of partner and vice president of engineering at Kinetek Corporation, a manufacturer of semiconductor inspection equipment. For over 11 years he directed development and marketing of the company's major product lines that included wafer inspection, defect review systems, and software products. During his tenure at Kinetek he established critical alliances with customers and suppliers to define, develop, and improve products in both production and R&D environments.

Prior to Kinetek, Baker was involved in the design and development of processing equipment for SMIF wafer fabrication facilities and is credited with the development of the first SMIF wafer inspection system for semiconductor fabrication. He has received key patents for non-contact pre-alignment and cassette wafer mapping systems. Baker has a B.S.E.E. from the University of Washington and has been involved on SEMI's standards task forces.

Photo of Greg Baker at http://www.olympus-ita.com/images/greg_baker.jpg

About Olympus-Integrated Technologies America
Olympus Integrated Technologies America, Inc. (Olympus-ITA) was founded in March 2000 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Olympus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. Specializing in semiconductor products and systems for wafer inspection and defect review, Olympus-ITA is responsible for sales and marketing of semiconductor systems in the United States and is also the application software development R&D center for Olympus semiconductor products. Its location in San Jose, California, enables the company to respond quickly to provide sales, service, and support to semiconductor companies throughout the United States. For more information contact Greg Baker at 408-514-3918, email gbaker@olympus-ita.com, or visit our website at www.olympus-ita.com.