American Science and Engineering, Inc. Receives $7.1 Million Contract from Department of Defense for Force Protection Applications.

Business/Technology Editors

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BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 2002

DoD To Install Patented Shaped Energy(TM) X-ray Technology at the U.S.

Naval Port in Honolulu, Hawaii for Cargo Inspection

American Science and Engineering, Inc. (AMEX: ASE) announced today a Research and Development (R&D) contract for its Shaped Energy(TM) Gantry system plus Backscatter from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for the U.S. Naval Base in Pearl Harbor. The sole source contract is valued at $7.1 million and will be delivered over the next fifteen months.

Ralph Sheridan, CEO and President, said, "This timely innovation for cargo inspection in ports has emerged from AS&E's experience with its 67 cargo inspection systems in 10 countries. Shaped Energy plus Backscatter addresses major port concerns about the practicality of X-ray inspection systems. It provides high penetration X-rays in a safe environment while maintaining the benefit of backscatter's photo-like detection and organic material discrimination capability. The Shaped Energy system is designed to provide 1) radiation safety; 2) high throughput; 3) high penetration; 4) sharp image quality and; 5) a small footprint."

The Shaped Energy system's unique design will operate on a rail-based gantry that can move past stationary cargo, doubling the speed of cargo processing. The patented method of shaping the energy spectrum to filter out non-essential radiation makes the system very safe for operators and staff while achieving a high degree of penetration, and maintaining a small footprint design.

AS&E's technology has a major role in Force Protection applications. This contract represents the fifth Shaped Energy system award, and follows a recent DoD/Force Protection order for AS&E's MobileSearch(TM) system for a strategically located U.S. Air Force Base.

AS&E develops and manufactures sophisticated X-ray inspection products for critical detection and security applications. These systems are solving an expanding range of inspection problems including detecting car and truck bombs, combating weapons smuggling, and imaging cargo to expose trade fraud and illegal immigration. AS&E's patented Z(R) Backscatter technology detects plastic explosives, illegal drugs, and other contraband, even when artfully concealed in complex backgrounds by terrorists and smugglers. AS&E's Shaped EnergyTM X-ray inspection systems combine material discrimination features of Z(R) Backscatter imaging with the penetration capability of high-energy X-rays for dense cargoes, without the problems caused by excessive radiation. AS&E's High Energy Systems Division manufactures linear accelerators for a variety of applications including medical, scientific, security, electron beam curing and non-destructive testing. For more information on AS&E products and technologies, please visit http://www.as-e.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

The foregoing press release contains statements concerning AS&E's financial performance, markets and business operations that may be considered "forward-looking" under applicable securities laws. AS&E wishes to caution readers of this press release that actual results might differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Factors which might cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements contained herein include the following: significant reductions or delays in procurements of the Company's systems by the United States and other governments; disruption in the supply of any sole-source component incorporated into the AS&E's products (of which there are several); litigation seeking to restrict the use of intellectual property used by the Company; potential product liability claims against the Company; global political trends and events which affect public perception of the threat presented by drugs, explosives and other contraband; global economic developments and the ability of governments and private organizations to fund purchases of the Company's products to address such threats; and the potential insufficiency of Company resources, including human resources, capital, plant and equipment and management systems, to accommodate any future growth. These and certain other factors which might cause actual results to differ materially from those projected are more fully set forth under the caption "Forward-Looking Information and Factors Affecting Future Performance" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year ending March 31, 2002.

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