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Celerity Digital MFCs Qualified by Leading Etch Systems Supplier

MILPITAS, Calif., March 25, 2003 - Celerity Group, Inc. today announced that Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) has qualified the Celerity digital mass flow controllers (MFCs) with MultiFlo? technology in the production of Lam 2300TM Etch Series and Alliance™-based etch systems. Following an extensive six-month evaluation, Celerity's MFCs, marketed under the Unit sub-brand, were qualified for all Lam etch gas panels due to demonstrated superior performance, reliability, and flexibility. Unit analog MFCs have been the standard on Lam systems for a number of years, and this design decision enables Lam to supply semiconductor manufacturing tools with digital MFC technology exclusively, thus improving process gas control and reliability.

"Celerity's MFCs with MultiFlo will afford us significant flexibility in gas delivery," said Dr. Doug Meakin, senior director of OEM supply chain management at Lam. "The MultiFlo technology will enable us to reduce inventory levels, improve response time, and react more efficiently to configuration and recipe changes."

MultiFlo is an enabling technology available on all new Unit MFCs, allowing customers to calibrate the MFC on-site, anywhere, at anytime, using Celerity's proprietary software. Unit MFCs with MultiFlo are offered in nine standard configurations, covering 85% of gases and flow ranges used in the semiconductor industry. Consequently, MultiFlo technology allows customers to stock only nine standard MFC parts, potentially reducing their inventory up to 100 times and decreasing costly obsolete inventory. In addition, MFCs with MultiFlo enable gas and range configuration in only a few minutes, significantly decreasing fab owners' tool down-time.

"Our MultiFlo digital MFCs offer superior performance, shorter cycle time, and significantly reduced inventory levels for both OEMs and end users," said Joe Foster, senior vice president of Celerity. "The flexibility of our MultiFlo MFCs is unmatched in the industry, resulting in tremendous interest for our products throughout the semiconductor equipment market. We're very pleased that Lam selected our digital MFC product line as the standard for their etch gas panels, and look forward to continuing our relationship as their primary MFC supplier," concluded Foster.

Lam Research Corporation is a leading supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the world's semiconductor industry. Lam's common stock trades on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol LRCX. For more information, please visit www.lamrc.com.

Celerity is a leading provider of gas and chemical delivery process modules and critical instruments to the semiconductor industry and related industries requiring high precision and flow control. Celerity, formerly known as Kinetics Fluid Systems, is a division of Kinetics Group, Inc. For more information, please visit www.celerity.net.