Press Release Details

Brush Ceramics Increases Manufacturing Capacity in Arizona Facility; Increasing Demand for Beryllium Oxide Substrates in the Telecom, Medical and Semiconductor Markets Spurs 25% Growth in Capacity; Leads Times Shrink up to 60%

June 30, 2005

TUCSON, Ariz., Jun 30, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Brush Ceramic Products Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Brush Wellman Inc.), a leading manufacturer of customized beryllium oxide ceramics serving the telecom, medical and semiconductor markets, has increased manufacturing capacity in their Arizona facility to keep pace with increasing product demand.

Upgrades to the manufacturing presses that take the beryllium oxide (BeO) powder and produce substrates have enabled shorter set-up times and more throughput. As a result, lead times for finished substrates have been reduced up to 60% for some products. Quality has also increased at the Tucson facility as the pressure, time and speed of the presses is now more tightly regulated, resulting in more consistent substrates.

Increased demand stems from steady growth in the telecom, medical device and laser markets and from an anticipated spurt in semiconductors at the end of this year into next year.

The upgrades took over a month to complete and customers are now beginning to see shorter lead times for most ceramic substrate products.

Editor's Background Information:

Beryllia (beryllium oxide or BeO) is lightweight, very rigid and has excellent thermal management properties -- meaning it withstands extreme temperatures and rapidly dissipates heat better than any other ceramic material, making it useful in heat producing circuits, such as those carrying high currents or very dense circuitry. Hence, beryllium is the material of choice for a wide variety of critical components in aerospace systems, data processing, medical and computer applications. Beryllia ceramic packaging is a technology that enables electronics to achieve higher speeds, smaller size, and higher reliability.

About Brush Ceramics: Brush Wellman Inc. (NYSE:BW) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brush Engineered Materials Inc. Through its subsidiaries, Brush Engineered Materials supplies worldwide markets with products of beryllium, alloys, electronics, precious metals and engineered materials systems. Around the world, the company's engineered materials can be found in technically demanding end-use products in telecommunications, computers, automotive electronics, industrial components, optical media, aerospace and defense. Brush Ceramic Products has pioneered and developed beryllia ceramics technology for over 60 years. It is a global leader in high performance engineered ceramics that enable customers to meet superior levels of product strength, reliability, miniaturization, weight savings, and thermal dissipation. For more information: http://www.brushceramics.com.

SOURCE: Brush Ceramic Products

Brush Ceramic Products
Lee Vandermark, 520-741-3405
lee_vandermark@brushceramics.com
    or
Kirkpatrick Communications, Inc.
Bruce Kirkpatrick, 925-244-9100
brucekirk@kirk-com.com

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