FREMONT, Calif.—April 22, 2003 — Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASYT), a leading provider of integrated automation solutions that maximize semiconductor manufacturing productivity, today announced the availability of a webcast of the company’s presentation at Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Hardware Heaven Technology Conference, to be held at the Sheraton Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA on April 30, 2003 at 4:00 p.m. PDT.

The webcast will be available to all interested parties through Asyst’s website, http://www.asyst.com. To access the simultaneous webcast, select the Investor Relations section from Asyst’s home page. On the Investor Relations page, select the Webcast button and log onto the “Click here for webcast” area under the ‘Merrill Lynch & Company’s Hardware Heaven Technology Conference’ title. An archive of the presentation will be available within 24 hours of the conclusion of the live presentation and will be accessible for fourteen days.

For more information on the conference, please contact your Merrill Lynch & Company representative, directly.

About Asyst Technologies
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of integrated automation solutions that enable semiconductor manufacturers to increase manufacturing productivity and protect investments in silicon wafers during the manufacture of integrated circuits, or ICs. The company offers a broad range of 200mm and 300mm solutions that enable the safe transfer of wafers and information between process equipment and the fab line throughout the IC fabrication process, while reducing IC damage caused by human, environmental, mechanical and chemical factors. Encompassing isolation systems, work-in-process materials management, substrate-handling robotics, automated transport and loading systems, and connectivity automation software, Asyst’s modular, interoperable solutions allow chipmakers and original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, to select and employ the value-assured, hands-off manufacturing capabilities that best suit their needs. Asyst’s homepage is http://www.asyst.com

CONTACT:

Investor Contact
John Swenson
Asyst Technologies, Inc.
(510) 661-5000
(510) 661-5166 (fax)
jswenson@asyst.com