Chip Express Names Alex Leupp President & CEO.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 1998--

Semiconductor Industry Veteran to Take the Helm

of the ASIC Time-to-Market Leader;

Zvi Or-Bach to Serve as Vice Chairman of the Company's Board

Chip Express Corporation today announced the nomination of Dr. Alex Leupp as President & CEO of the company.

Chip Express' Board of Directors accepted co-founder Zvi Or-Bach's recommendation to nominate Dr. Alex Leupp in order to move the company to the next level of growth. Leupp will assume the position immediately. He will also become a member of the company's Board. Or-Bach, who served as the company's President & CEO, has accepted the position of Vice Chairman.

Dr. Leupp brings to Chip Express more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. In his most recent position, Leupp served as President & CEO of Siemens Microelectronics for six years. During his tenure at Siemens, sales revenues tripled from $250M to over $750M. Dr. Leupp previously held executive management positions at Fairchild Semiconductor, Hughes Aircraft, and California Devices.

David Longfellow of Lucent Technologies' Microelectronics Group, who also serves as Board Observer on the Chip Express Board of Directors, stated, "We at Lucent have enjoyed our close working relationship with Chip Express and Zvi Or-Bach. We are excited about the continued opportunities to work together with the new team of Dr. Alex Leupp as President & CEO and Zvi Or-Bach as Vice Chairman of the Board."

"On behalf of Chip Express Board Members and investors, I would like to thank Zvi for his tremendous achievement in building Chip Express and developing one of the most advanced technologies in the semiconductor industry," said Uzia Galil, President, CEO and Chairman of Elron Electronic Industries, Israel, and Chairman of Chip Express' Board of Directors. "During Or-Bach's tenure, Chip Express has grown to be the leader in time-to-market solutions for ASIC applications."

Chip Express Corporation is the world leader in "Time-to-Market Solution(R)" for high-performance, high-density ASIC devices. Chip Express provides the industry's fastest-turn ASIC products, including a one day gate array prototyping service utilizing the QuICk(R) laser micro-machining system; one week flexible production utilizing its innovative OneMask(R) process to personalize a single wafer at a time; and a smooth transition to its TwoMask(tm) /HardArray(tm) technology for cost competitive high volume production in as short as one month.

Chip Express is a privately held corporation, founded in the U.S. in 1989. From its headquarters in Santa Clara, CA, Chip Express services leading-edge computer, communications and military companies worldwide including Hewlett Packard, Intel, 3Com, Sun, Cisco Systems, Bay Networks, Lockheed Martin, Hughes Aircraft, and National Semiconductor.