Konarka Technologies Strengthens Management Team

Key hires expand leadership and position for commercialization

LOWELL, Mass. — March 26, 2003 — Konarka Technologies, Inc. (KTI), an innovator in the development of flexible, nanomaterials and conductive polymer-based photovoltaic (PV) technologies, today announced three key hires, reinforcing its commitment to rapidly bring to market its core technology. Randy Chan has joined as Vice President of Manufacturing and Engineering, Dr. Keith Brooks has joined as Senior Scientist in Konarka’s newly established Swiss office, and Kevin McGuire has been appointed as Corporate Controller.

"Randy, Keith and Kevin are superb additions to the Konarka team. Their collective experience will serve as yet another catalyst as Konarka continues to build on their leadership position and market share in the worldwide solar power industry," said Konarka President and CEO, Dr. Bill Beckenbaugh.

"Randy will be pivotal in leading Konarka Technologies through the pilot line manufacturing phase in Lowell and into full-scale commercialization operations. As Senior Scientist and a former post-doctoral researcher with Dr. Michael Grätzel, the inventor of the dye cell concept, Keith will accelerate knowledge transfer from EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland into our commercialization plans and help forge new opportunities in the European market. Having raised $16 million in financing, and with our 2003-04 focus on productization, Kevin McGuire’s experience and operational finance leadership will support our outstanding growth potential," said Dr. Bill Beckenbaugh.

In this newly created position, Chan oversees both manufacturing and engineering for processes and products. He will expand strategic supply chain relationships and initiate Konarka’s final product assembly partnership programs. Chan has over 20 years experience in operations and product development. Most recently he served as VP operations and product development at E Ink, where he oversaw all operational and manufacturing activities as well as product development. Prior to E Ink, Chan held technology and business strategy positions at Avery Dennison, Raychem, Electromer, and James River Corporation. He holds an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. Chan also holds eight patents.

Dr. Brooks serves as technology liaison between Konarka’s US and European operations, as well as European academic and strategic partners. Brooks is an accomplished materials scientist with over 12 years of practical technical expertise and has authored more than 85 publications. Brooks was previously R&D manager for Greatcell Solar SA in Switzerland, an early licensee of the dye-sensitized solar cell from EPFL. Brooks holds a Ph.D. in Ceramic Science and a B.S. in Ceramics Engineering, both from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in New York.

As Corporate Controller, McGuire is responsible for Konarka’s domestic and international accounting and administrative functions. McGuire has more than 20 years of diversified financial experience as a corporate controller, financial planning analyst and independent consultant. Prior to joining Konarka, McGuire worked at Sanmina-SCI, with responsibility for all operational customer support aspects of the printed circuit manufacturing division, including capacity planning for eight manufacturing sites, with over $1B in order management, budgeting, commission plan design, and cost accounting. Prior to his tenure at Sanmina-SCI, McGuire held various financial management roles at Honeywell Information Systems. McGuire holds a Masters in Business Administration from Babson College, and a B.S. in Accounting from Merrimack College.

About Konarka Technologies Founded in June of 2001, Konarka Technologies, Inc. is an advanced research and development company, dedicated to the commercialization of energy conversion technologies based on a proprietary, solid-state, flexible, low cost photovoltaic (PV) platform. Konarka's technology, unlike other photovoltaic technologies, is polymer-based, making it lightweight and portable. It converts both sunlight and indoor light into direct current (DC) electrical energy and can be incorporated into a wide range of applications. Konarka has a broad portfolio of patents issued and pending as well as supporting technology licenses from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland) and the University of Massachusetts. A board of scientific and business advisors, including Nobel Laureate Professor Alan Heeger, also a founding member of the Board of Directors, complements the company’s talented technical staff. Konarka Technologies is headquartered in Lowell, Mass and has subsidiaries in Linz, Austria and Zug, Switzerland. For more information, visit Konarka's web site at http://www.konarkatech.com.