Kester announces that it has been awarded a SMT VISION Award in the category of Environmentally Friendly Products/Services for its innovative UltraPure(R) K100LD, a lead-free bar solder alloy for the electronics industry. The award will be presented to Brian Smith, Market Development Manager, during a Monday, February 19, 2007 ceremony that will take place at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles before the start of APEX.

K100LD is a patent-pending, low-cost alternative to traditional lead-free alloys. The bar solder offers the lowest copper dissolution of any lead-free bar on the market, even amongst all common alloys, including Sn63, SAC305 and other lead-free options.

K100LD represents an improvement over competitive alloys, including other variations of Tin-Copper-Nickel (SnCuNi). K100LD is a low-cost (silver-free) lead-free alloy primarily containing tin and copper with the inclusion of metallic dopants to control the grain structure and the Copper dissolution rate. K100LD has a slower rate of Copper dissolution than competitive SnCuNi alloys, which minimizes pot maintenance, maintains consistent soldering performance and improves reliability. K100LD has a copper dissolution rate 20 percent slower than the competitive SnCuNi alloy and even Sn63Pb37. K100LD compares favorably to other low-cost, lead-free alloys of tin and copper in terms of wetting and flow characteristics, providing users with optimal soldering performance and minimal defects.

K100LD is a Silver-free alloy, resulting in much lower costs than traditional lead-free alloys, such as SAC305. Kester K100LD provides the lowest delivered price to the global wave soldering market. K100LD includes anti-drossing technology, an important attribute with lead-free soldering that also represents additional cost savings to the assembler.

Besides offering the lowest dissolution of copper from boards and components of any lead-free alloy, K100LD offers numerous benefits, including bright, smooth solder joints with no visible shrinkage effects, excellent through-hole penetration and topside fillet with virtually no bridging, and reduced leaching of solder pot materials. Additionally, K100LD is compatible with all types of board and component metallizations, is compatible with other SnCuNi alloys, and its lead level is specified at less than 0.05 percent, ensuring RoHS compliance.

For more information on Ultrapure(R) K100LD or Kester's full line of products and services including SE-CURE(TM) and InnovaBond(TM) products, contact Kester by phone at (+1) 847-297-1600 or 800-2-KESTER (53-7837), by fax at (+1) 847- 699-5548, or by e-mail at customerservice@kester.com. Kester's Web site may be found at www.kester.com.

Now in its 15th year, the SMT VISION Awards program is an annual celebration of product excellence in electronics surface mount assembly. Premier products based on the finest examples of creative advancement in technology in 22 key areas are chosen by a distinguished panel of industry experts.

Founded in 1899, Kester is a world-renowned supplier of solder and related materials and services to the electronics assembly, micro-component, and industrial soldering markets. Kester is known for high quality, advanced technology and superior technical support. With headquarters in Itasca, IL, Kester has additional manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Singapore, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Taiwan, Malaysia and China. Its worldwide manufacturing and technical capabilities provide the support required to serve major electronics manufacturing services providers and OEMs.