Ashtech appoints Vice President to head European operation; Kristoffer Sygel brings 23 years of high-tech European experience to precise positioning company.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 1997--Kristoffer Sygel has joined Ashtech Inc. as vice president of Ashtech Europe. In this capacity, Sygel will handle all Ashtech operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East including sales, customer support, finance and export/import functions.

Currently, Ashtech has two sales offices in Europe, Oxford, U.K. and Moscow, Russia.

Sygel has over twenty-three years of experience in the European arena. Most recently, he was the European vice president for Echelon Corporation, a control networks company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Prior to joining Echelon, Sygel held executive positions in Europe with MIPS, Data General Corporation, and Digital Equipment Corporation.

"Ashtech is very pleased that Kristoffer Sygel has joined our team," stated Chuck Boesenberg, president and CEO of Ashtech. "He has an excellent track record for building long-term strategic partnerships with leading European corporations and has extensive experience with advanced applications and high technology concepts."

Sygel holds a Master of Science degree in electronics from the Technical University (Politechnika) in Wroclaw, Poland. Reporting to Tom Hunter, vice president of sales for Ashtech, he will direct operations from Ashtech's UK office.

Ashtech Inc., a telecommunications company, is the leading provider of precision solutions for global positioning and is ISO-9001 certified. Incorporated in 1987, Ashtech manufactures and markets GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver systems, GPS+GLONASS(TM) (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers and related subsystems which utilize Navstar and GLONASS satellites to determine position and time information for users worldwide.

Ashtech is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA with sales offices domestically in Belgrade, Montana and Reston, Virginia. Ashtech maintains a European sales office in Oxford, England and a far east sales office in Hong Kong as well as research and development facilities in Moscow, Russia. More than 60 international and domestic dealers represent Ashtech products worldwide. Ashtech's main number is 408/524-1400. -0-

Note to Editors: This press release may contain other product names, tradenames and trademarks of Ashtech Inc. and other entities which are owned by the respective entity.

CONTACT: Ashtech, Inc.

Sally Kenvin, 408/524-1460

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Miller/Shandwick Technologies

Ann Stowe, 415/962-9550

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