The 29th Annual Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association 2001 Distinguished Inventor of the Year Award Ceremony

    ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 2 The Rochester Intellectual Property
Law Association is pleased to announce that it has selected Vernon E. Gleasman
of Pittsford, N.Y. as recipient of its 2001 Distinguished Inventor of the Year
Award.
    Mr. Gleasman is considered a world's leading authority on gear technology.
He is co-inventor, with sons James and Keith, of the all-gear GSD-10, a
hydromechanical steering system for track vehicles; conceived and engineered
the Fast Tracked Vehicle; and is inventor of the Torsen differential now used
in many passenger automobiles around the world such as:  Porsche, Audi
Quatrro's, 8 car lines of Toyota, Mazda Miata and RX7, Chevrolet Camaro,
Pontiac Firebird, Oldsmobile Achieva, Suzuki, and in the U.S. Army HMMWV
(Hummer).
    Vernon was the winner of the Society of Automotive Engineers' 1983
Schwitzer Award for Most Innovative New Product at the Indianapolis 500; is
listed in the Who's Who in American Inventors 1990 Edition; and has been
nominated to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.  His work is featured in the
Theory of Machines and Mechanisms, McGraw-Hill, 1995; Mr. Gleasman's Torsen
differential is pictured on the jacket cover.
    Mr. Gleasman has been granted over 20 patents on gearing, differentials
and machine tools over the past 30 years, and is the principal inventor on
over 100 U.S. patents, as well as corresponding foreign patents, primarily
automotive related.  Vernon, together with his sons James and Keith, founded
Torvec, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: TOVC) of Pittsford, N.Y., a development
company which holds the rights to the Gleasman's patents.
    Vernon Gleasman said "Patent protection is a critical building block of a
company's value.  I am honored to receive this award from Rochester's finest
intellectual property attorneys."

    RIPLA is a professional organization with a membership of over 100
property law attorneys.  The May 5th ceremony will mark RIPLA's 29th annual
Distinguished Inventor of the Year Award.

    Torvec, Inc., based in Rochester, New York, develops technologies that
increase transportation safety, mobility, fuel efficiency and reduce soot
emissions.  Torvec is a public company trading under the symbol TOVC.  For
more information visit http://www.torvec.com.  The Company's Manadarin web
site is http://www.na-investor.com/hosting/tovc/index.html.

    Media Contacts:

    RIPLA, Katherine McGuire, Bausch & Lomb, Inc., (716) 338-5526

    Torvec, Jim Gleasman, (716) 248-8549

    Contact LaMagna Communications (631) 668-4979 for a photo file of Vernon
    Gleasman

                    MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT -- Click Here
               http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X77854752