Company Responds to Growing Demand in Display and III-V Product Areas

Kopin Corporation /quotes/comstock/15*!kopn/quotes/nls/kopn (KOPN 4.05, +0.26, +6.86%) , the largest U.S. manufacturer of microdisplays for military, industrial and consumer applications, and the world's leading producer of HBT (Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor) wafers for smartphone, WiMAX, WCDMA and other wireless applications, today announced the hiring of Mr. Timothy Edwards, Dr. Chris Parkinson and Dr. Wayne Johnson to support the continued growth of display solutions to the Department of Defense (DOD), Golden-i hands-free, wireless headset computers for industrial applications, and III-V products for wireless applications, respectively.

Addressing the growing demand for higher performance and more sophisticated optical solutions for DOD applications, Kopin hired Timothy Edwards as Senior Staff Optical Systems Engineer. Mr. Edwards joins Kopin from Rockwell Collins, a provider of communication and aviation electronic solutions for commercial and government applications. He brings more than 15 years of experience in military and avionics systems design, including heads-up, helmet-mounted, and multi-function displays, and night vision systems in programs such as the F-22, Joint Strike Fighter, the Land Warrior Program, and the F-18 Night Attack aircraft.

"In order to satisfy our customer's demand for solutions to meet their visual system requirements, the optical systems designs used in our Higher Level Assembly (HLA) military products have increased in complexity," stated Michael Presz, Kopin's Vice President of Government Programs. "Mr. Edwards brings extensive experience in complex optical systems designs configured specifically to meet the stringent demands of our DOD product applications."

Kopin's HLA products combine electronics, displays and optics in an assembly used in a variety of high-end military applications, including thermal weapon sights, night vision goggles, helmet-mounted displays, and other battlefield systems. Visible optics solutions that are producible in high volumes are critical to the continued success of these products.

Dr. Chris Parkinson has joined Kopin as Senior Golden-i Software Manager. For the past two years, Dr. Parkinson consulted with Kopin on the development of the Golden-i device and was instrumental in creating the recently announced Golden-i Software Development Kit. Previously, he was President and CEO of Integral RFID, Inc. Dr. Parkinson received his Ph.D. degree at the University of Manchester in England in 2006 and has extensive software experience in handheld, PC and server software architectures, operating systems (Microsoft, Linux, etc.) and software drivers for various hardware systems.

"Over the past two years, Dr. Parkinson has already been a core member of the Golden-i development team," said Jeffrey Jacobsen, Kopin Senior Advisor to CEO and Golden-i Program Manager. "He has proven himself extremely capable and unusually gifted in software development, problem identification, and seamless integration with the Golden-i device. Now that he is full-time with Kopin, we expect his contribution would be even greater."

Dr. Wayne Johnson has joined Kopin as Director of New Business and Product Development for the III-V product line. Dr. Johnson's hiring provides Kopin with additional resources to take advantage of opportunities arising from the surging demand and enhanced performance requirements for 3G and 4G wireless devices such as smartphones and MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices).

"Dr. Johnson brings a wonderful complement of experience and background in III-V materials, processing and devices to our existing technology staff," stated Daily Hill, Kopin's Senior Vice President and General Manager of the III-V Group. "Historically, Kopin's III-V focus has been on manufacturing the world's highest performance and most reliable HBT wafers. With our extensive development over the past two years to stay ahead of the market's enhanced performance requirements, we have added HEMT (High Electron Mobility Transistor) and BiHEMT (Bipolar-High Electron Mobility Transistor) to our production portfolio. Dr. Johnson has spent the past eight years developing new products for the III-V industry, and we are excited to leverage his talent to our existing and new III-V products."

Dr. Johnson was most recently with Nitronex Corporation, where he was responsible for company-wide new product development of GaN HEMT and MMIC devices for military and commercial wireless applications. Prior to Nitronex, he spent time developing GaN HEMT processing techniques at Sandia National Laboratories and optimizing MOCVD growth of thin film optical interference filters at Deposition Sciences, Inc. Dr. Johnson's previous work has led to several novel III-V device demonstrations, including GaN-based MOSFETs, HEMTs, diodes, and sensors for applications including wireless communications, power management, and biological detection. Dr. Johnson has co-authored more than 100 technical publications in the field of III-V semiconductors and holds six U.S. patents.

"Despite the global economic recession, Kopin has been growing in 2009," said Kopin President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. John C.C. Fan. "We installed new advanced equipment and capabilities and have been very active in developing innovative, game-changing products. We increased the number of full-time employees by 10% in 2009, and our growth in 2010 continues as exemplified by the addition of these new individuals to our team. The markets we serve are growing significantly, and we look forward to continuing to support our partners."