Dean Kamen Named Keynote Speaker at California Coast Venture Forum; National Medal of Technology Recipient Will Share Expertise with Future Generation of Entrepreneurs.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The California Coast Venture Forum (CCVF) today announced that Dean Kamen, noted inventor and founder of DEKA Research & Development Corporation, will be featured as the keynote speaker at their annual Venture Forum.

"We are honored to welcome Mr. Kamen as our keynote speaker," said Joseph E. Nida, Chairman of the CCVF. "His commitment to inspiring the next generation to push the edge of science and technology is directly in line with our mission to assist emerging-growth start-ups and later stage companies seeking venture capital funding."

Dean Kamen holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents for innovative devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care worldwide, which include the first wearable insulin pump for diabetics and the HomeChoice(TM) portable peritoneal dialysis machine. Among Mr. Kamen's renowned accomplishments are founding FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization dedicated to motivating future generations to understand, use, and enjoy science and technology. Kamen is also the inventor of innovative consumer products, such as the Segway(R) Human Transporter and the IBOT Mobility System Wheelchair. Mr. Nida said, "I am personally a beneficiary of Mr. Kamen's genius as an owner and user of the IBOT, and it has made a huge difference in my life. I am very pleased that we can bring Dean to the CCVF and to local entrepreneurs, investors, and business men and women."

The California Coast Venture Forum selects companies with sound business plans and assists them in sources of funding. In its 10th year, the CCVF has assisted emerging growth and laterstage companies raise over $110 million in capital investments from private equity, venture capital, and angel investors. This year, 25 companies will be selected for the Venture Forum to communicate their business plans to venture capitalists, institutional investors and angel investors.

The event will be held Thursday, June 1, 2006 in Santa Barbara, California at the Four Season's Biltmore Hotel. For further details regarding this event and instructions on registration and submitting business plans, or to sponsor or exhibit at the event, please visit www.ccvf.org.

ABOUT CCVF

CCVF is a non-profit organization whose mission is to invite qualified companies to participate in forums with leading investors and sponsors in Santa Barbara, California. CCVF was founded in 1996 by Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton (formerly, Nida & Maloney), Southern California Edison, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Westmont College, and Paine Webber, as the non-profit California Coast Venture Forum (formerly, the Central Coast Venture Forum).