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Silicon Valley Selects CAST of Wakefield as Finalist for International Tech Museum Award for improving quality of life around the world.

Wakefield - September 30, 2002 - Based on their research and development of technology applications that improve access for people to learn, CAST, a non-profit organization, has been selected as a finalist for The NASDAQ Stock Market for Education Award at The Tech Museum Awards, Technology Benefiting Humanity, presented by Applied Materials, Inc.

The Tech Museum Awards is a unique awards program designed to recognize individuals and organizations that develop or adapt technology in creative ways to solve global challenges and have a high potential of yielding lasting, beneficial impact.

Each year, the Awards honor innovators from around the world in five universal categories: Education, Equality, Environment, Health and Economic Development. This year over 460 nominations were received from 59 countries. One winner from each category will receive a $50,000 honorarium, to be presented at the Awards gala on November 7, 2002 in San Jose, California.

"We are thrilled to be a finalist. Our work depends on the power of digital technology, and that power is never more evident than when it is in the hands of children with disabilities. Through success with these most 'challenging' students -- students for whom traditional technologies have usually failed -- we find ourselves inventing a better future for all children," says CAST Co-Executive Director David Rose. Drs. David Rose and Anne Meyer founded CAST and continue to lead the organization.

About CAST
Founded in 1984 as the Center for Applied Special Technology, CAST is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to expand educational opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through the development and innovative uses of computer technology. CAST is the creator of Bobby, a Web site accessibility evaluation tool used worldwide, and the educational software programs WiggleWorks® ( co-developed with Scholastic Inc.) and CAST eReader^TM. For more information, please visit www.cast.org.

About The Tech Museum Awards
The concept for The Tech Museum Awards and its five categories was inspired in part by The State of the Future at the Millennium report of The Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University, which recommends that award recognition is an effective way to accelerate scientific breakthroughs and technological applications to improve the human condition. The Awards were inaugurated in 2001.

Judging for The Tech Museum Awards is independently conducted by Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology and Society, a global network of academic and industry experts dedicated to understanding and influencing how science and technology impact society. They assembled five panels of judges from around the world, recruited from research institutions, industry and the public sector, who judged the nominations on five set criteria.

For more information on The Tech Museum Awards and detailed profiles on all 25 finalists, visit www.techawards.thetech.org.

The Tech Museum of Innovation Awards Partners
The Tech Awards represent a collaborative effort among educational institutions and business. Among Silicon Valley's leaders supporting the Tech Awards are presenting sponsor, Applied Materials, Inc. and Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology and Society. Additionally, category sponsors include the NASDAQ Stock Market, Knight Ridder, Intel, JPMorgan Chase and Accenture.

About The Tech Museum of Innovation
Located in the heart of downtown San Jose, Silicon Valley, Calif., The Tech, a non-profit organization, engages people of all ages and backgrounds in exploring and experiencing the technologies affecting their lives and aims to inspire the innovator in everyone. For more information, visit www.thetech.org or call (408) 294-TECH.

Tech Awards Media Contact:
Kris Covarrubias (408) 795-6226 or kcova@thetech.org