Key Technology Promotes James Ruff to Vice President of Research & Development

June 12, 2007 – Key Technology announces the promotion of James Ruff to Vice President of Research & Development.  In this new position, Ruff is responsible for extending the company’s technology leadership position by implementing programs that develop and acquire new technologies that add value to customers in a variety of strategic markets within the food and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries.

“Key understands the production challenges our customers face and we invest significant resources to tailor products and services that enable them to produce higher quality products while reducing operating costs,” noted David Camp, President and CEO of Key Technology.  “Jim is ideally suited to take the lead in research and development.  He has extensive experience with our customers and he has a tremendous understanding of our technology and how to build our leadership momentum.”

Ruff has been with Key Technology for 14 years.  For the past three years, he has served as the Managing Director of Key Technology BV, the company’s European operation based in the Netherlands.  Previously, he was Project Engineering Manager as well as Technical Integration Manager with Key.  Prior to joining Key, Ruff was with Boeing where he held a variety of engineering and management positions.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.  He holds two patents in conjunction with Key Technology for vibratory conveying solutions.

“At Key, our corporate culture revolves around technology innovation and adding value to our customers’ operations.  To lead R&D initiatives – to formalize the essence of this culture into specific programs – is an honor,” noted Jim Ruff.  “Moving forward, we will fuel our R&D efforts with more energy so that we improve our time-to-market and stay further ahead in satisfying our customers’ evolving needs.  We will also put more emphasis on developing technologies that are appropriate for the world market – technologies that are simple to operate and very robust, allowing customers around the world to experience Key Technology’s advanced solutions.”

Ruff will relocate from the Netherlands to the company’s corporate headquarters in Walla Walla, Washington, USA.

About Key Technology, Inc.
Key Technology, an ISO-9001 certified company, is a leading designer and manufacturer of process automation systems, integrated electro-optical inspection and sorting systems, and processing systems. Key® systems help processors to improve quality, increase yield, and reduce cost. With worldwide sales representation, the company maintains demonstration and testing facilities at its headquarters and manufacturing divisions in Walla Walla, Washington, USA, and at Key Technology BV in Beusichem, the Netherlands. The company's common stock trades on the Global Market tier of The NASDAQ Stock MarketSM under the symbol: KTEC.