September 12, 2007 (LONDON) – At the Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition 2007 (DSEi) today, SCHOTT North America’s Fiber Optics Defense Division and Clear Align announced a partnership agreement to jointly design, prototype and produce innovative electro-optical solutions for the defense and security markets. Under the terms of the partnership, Clear Align will provide SCHOTT North America with designs, prototype and production capabilities that will enable SCHOTT’s Fiber Optics Defense Division to meet the increasing demand for robust electro-optic development and production. This is in response to customer demands for rapid-response high-quality electro-optic systems and subsystems.

The partnership is designed to emphasize the strengths of each company, providing customers with increased services and resources. SCHOTT, a global fiber optic manufacturing leader, will benefit from Clear Align’s electro-optics knowledge. Clear Align will benefit from SCHOTT’s optic, fiber optic and fiber optic component expertise, large scale manufacturing capabilities, and defense market experience. Both companies foresee strategic research and development benefits thanks to their complimentary knowledge sets. The partnership will work on new business initiatives, details of which cannot be disclosed at this time.

Rick Miller, Fiber Optics Defense Division Manager of SCHOTT North America, stated that he is extremely pleased about the new partnership. “Given the current demand for integration of SCHOTT components, a reliable supply of design, prototype and assembly services is essential to SCHOTT North America’s growth targets,” he explained. “Combining Clear Align’s delivery and quality record with SCHOTT’s innovative capabilities and current capacity expansions for next generation modules for imaging and sensing applications, the partnership will play a decisive role in strengthening SCHOTT North America’s position as one of the world’s leading suppliers of optics to the defense and security market.”

Angelique X. Irvin, Clear Align’s president & CEO, emphasized the relationship’s importance for her company. “Our design to manufacturing capabilities – combined with the strength of SCHOTT North America’s Fiber Optic Defense Division – are vital to our strategy of delivering value to the security and defense market. The recent expansion of our production capacity to include full cleanroom assembly, ensures the partnership will be able to serve a broad spectrum of the imaging and sensing market. This relationship validates Clear Align’s position as an innovative supplier of custom optoelectronic modules, subsystems and systems.”

About Clear Align

Clear Align designs, prototypes and manufactures custom imaging, sensing and fiber optic systems for defense, aerospace and commercial customers. Clear Align’s imaging expertise spans the UV, visible, NIR, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR portions of the spectrum, delivering both narrow and wide field-of-view systems. Fiber optic and sensing expertise includes optical integration for communications, remote sensing and targeting, as well as medical fiber optics. Clear Align is a certified WOSB, 8(a) SDB, and SB per the US SBA regulations.

More information about the company is available at the company’s website, www.clearalign.com, or by contacting:

Laura Hasen
laura.hasen@clearalign.com
484-956-0510 X21