Fremont, CA, February 5, 1998 - Asyst Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYT), the leading supplier of minienvironment and SMIF-based technology to the worldwide semiconductor industry, today announced it has reached a major industry milestone with its 200^th SMIF-integrated design win. Novellus Systems, Inc. (San Jose, CA) has contracted with Asyst for integrated SMIF capabilities for Novellus' Concept Two platform of systems for thin film applications. With the Novellus design win, there are now 200 different semiconductor process systems featuring integrated Asyst-SMIF™ technology.

The milestone SMIF product, an Asyst SMIF-LPI™ (Load Port Interface), will be integrated with all of Novellus' Sequel, Prism, Altus and Speed tools. Asyst was able to develop the integrated SMIF solution with no addition to the footprint of Novellus' Concept Two platform. Asyst Vice President of Marketing and OEM Sales John Field commented, "Designing integrated SMIF solutions that enable turn-key implementation continues to play a critical role in our OEM customers' success within the semiconductor industry. Our ability to develop a SMIF solution that did not add to the footprint of the tools was significant in Novellus' decision."

Field added that this design win reinforces Asyst's dominance in the OEM market. "Our Asyst-SMIF solutions are now integrated in over 90 percent of the front-end process areas in today's fabs," said Field. "We are excited to work with Novellus on their successful Concept Two line of tools." The SMIF-LPI, intended for OEM applications where the lateral cassette transfer is facilitated by the manufacturer, is designed to easily integrate SMIF pod cassette loading and unloading into a wide variety of 150 and 200 mm vacuum load lock and cluster tools.

Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, semiconductor industry cycles, risks associated with the acceptance of new products and product capabilities and other factors more fully detailed in the Company's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, and annual report to shareholders.

About Asyst
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of material handling systems that help semiconductor manufacturers improve their integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing productivity. The company's Asyst-SMIFô System combines state-of-the-art minienvironments with advanced robotics to create ultraclean processing environments that are both comprehensive and flexible. The SMART-Travelerô System (STS) works in tandem with SMIF to eliminate misprocessing. Both Asyst-SMIF and its companion STS products are integral to seamless factory automation. Asyst Software, Inc. is dedicated to the development of software products for equipment communications and automated material handling, identification and tracking. Founded in 1984, Asyst Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Fremont, CA, with facilities in Europe and the Far East. Asyst Software is located in San Jose, CA

About SMIF
SMIF stands for Standard Mechanical InterFace, the material handling approach that enables wafer transfer to and from sealed SMIF environments without exposure to cleanroom ambient conditions. SEMI standards exist for 150, 200 and 300 mm wafer sizes.

Sequel, Prism, Altus and Speed are registered trademarks of Novellus Systems, Inc.