Award of Grant

15 Nov 2005 07:01

Surface Transforms PLC15 November 2005 To be embargoed until 7.00am 15 November 2005 Surface Transforms Plc ("Surface Transforms" or "the Company") Award of £200,000 Research & Development Grant Surface Transforms plc, manufacturers of carbon fibre reinforced ceramic (CFRC)materials, is pleased to announce the award of a Grant for Research andDevelopment from the English Northwest Development Agency. The Grant has a maximum value of £200,000 and the development project isrequired to be completed by November, 2008. The purpose of the Grant is to enable the Company to develop a lower costapproach to the manufacturing processes, for the company's lightweight, CFRCbrake system for automotive applications. CVIST, MIST and ST Preforms are tradenames for the key process technologies in the Company's patented manufacturingprocess. Once the project is completed, the Company expects to benefit not only fromlower unit cost of a brake disc, but also from shorter process times, which inturn will help to reduce the levels of inventory required. Another key benefitis that the Company will be better positioned to provide turnkey solutions tothird parties wishing to license the technology. Current automotive brake disc capacity at Surface Transforms is approximately 3000 brake discs per annum. Dr.Kevin Johnson, Managing Director of Surface Transforms plc, said: "The grant from the Northwest Development Agency is most welcome as it isfocused on advancing brake disc technology which I believe is unique in the UK. Furthermore, the knowledge acquired through developing a lower costmanufacturing process will make it considerably easier for Surface Transformsto license its proprietary technology to European and US automotive car andbrake system manufacturers." For enquiries, please contact: Surface Transforms plc John East & Partners Limited(Nomad)Dr. Kevin Johnson 0151 373130 Johnny Townsend, Simon ClementsMr. Kevin D'Silva 07802 306956 0207 628 2200 Teather & Greenwood(Broker) Mark Dickenson, Sindre Ottesen 0207 426 7775 Details of the Company's business and financial performance and its share pricecan be found on www.armshare.com which is accessed from the Armshare icon onwww.surface-transforms.com.. A webcast of the 2005 results is also available on www.surface-transforms.com /Investor and Media relations . This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange