10/31/06 Stephen Laslo (814) 467-9060 (x419) laslo@kuchera.com Kuchera Defense Systems Received a Pennsylvania Grant to Establish A Manufacturing Center of Excellence for Advanced Energy Systems Windber, PA – Kuchera Defense Systems (KDS) a high tech manufacturing and engineering services company, announced that the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) has awarded KDS a grant to develop the “Center of Excellence for Advanced Energy Systems (CEAES)” within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty presented the grant check to KDS during an October 10th tour of their facility. KDS proposed a multi-phased effort to establish a “Center of Excellence” that will focus on manufacturing advanced power and energy systems. The PEDA grant will assist KDS with Phase I facility upgrades and the procurement and installation of manufacturing equipment for portable fuel cell systems. Future activities will provide the Center with capabilities to engineer and manufacture additional fuel cell systems and other state-of-the-art advanced/alternative energy systems such as batteries, stirling engines, solar and wind. The Center is anticipated to showcase world-class designs and manufacturing techniques and procedures and provide services to design and manufacture total power and energy systems for military and the commercial industry. “The Center is being established to assist advanced energy system developers with transitioning their products from R&D to pilot production to high volume manufacturing,” said the KDS Manager of the CEAES. “We are very excited about working with the leading power and energy system developers and to utilize our engineering and manufacturing knowledge and experience to further the development of their products. Please contact Stephen Laslo, KDS CEAES Manager, at laslo@kuchera.com for additional information. About Kuchera Defense Systems (www.kuchera.com) Kuchera Defense Systems is a high tech manufacturing and engineering services company located in Windber, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. KDS has extensive expertise in advanced systems design, design for manufacture (DFM), design for assembly (DFA), design-to-cost (DTC), PCB layout, and high volume assembly of circuit boards, electronic systems, robotic unmanned vehicles and other highly complex and reliable military and industry products and components.