QUANTUM Awarded Contract By AeroVironment for NASA-Sponsored Program

QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES LOGO
Quantum Technologies, Inc. Logo. (PRNewsFoto)[TC]
IRVINE, CA USA 03/20/2001
     - QUANTUM Awarded Contract to Design Advanced Hydrogen and Oxygen Storage
       System for Helios Project

     - Design Goal:  To Develop a Hydrogen Storage Tank Technology for NASA
       Fuel Cell Aircraft

     - Pushes Hydrogen and Oxygen Tank Technology Beyond Current
       State-of-the-Art

    IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 21 QUANTUM Technologies WorldWide,
Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a major contract
by AeroVironment and NASA to design, fabricate, test and supply large advanced
hydrogen and oxygen tanks for the next generation Helios fuel cell prototype
aircraft.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010320/QUANTUMLOGO )
    The Helios fuel cell aircraft is a remotely piloted flying wing prototype
for NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST)
project -- demonstrating the capability to carry a payload of scientific
instruments and telecommunications relay equipment for the next generation of
broadband communications.
    The unique system to be developed by QUANTUM is a key enabling technology
that will allow Helios to fly continuously for up to 6 months at altitudes up
to 60,000 feet.  Ultra-light-weight, low permeability, hydrogen and oxygen
tanks are critical for achieving the high specific energy and for minimizing
reactant gas loss required for the energy storage system.
    Known for its world class, ultra-lightweight, all-composite,
high-capacity, storage tank technology, QUANTUM is ideally positioned to
advance its liner/composite tank technology beyond the current
state-of-the-art.  QUANTUM will apply its considerable resources to the
achievement of groundbreaking technology -- signifying a major advancement in
Type IV tank technology.
    "QUANTUM's experience in successfully providing enabling technologies to
manufacturers of fuel cell applications positioned the company for this
prestigious project," said Syed Hussain, President and CEO of QUANTUM.  "This
major recognition by AeroVironment and NASA demonstrates their confidence in
QUANTUM's advanced storage technology and provides further endorsement of
QUANTUM's ability to meet the demand for the lightest tank technology that can
withstand temperature extremes.  The application of QUANTUM's competencies in
tank technology will now be expanded to include oxygen storage -- once again
marking QUANTUM as a technology and market leader."

    More About QUANTUM:
    QUANTUM Technologies WorldWide, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of IMPCO
Technologies Inc. .  QUANTUM is focused on the development of
fuel system enabling technologies for manufacturers of alternative propulsion
and energy in emerging global markets.
    QUANTUM is a defined leader in advanced fuel storage and handling
technologies -- as the first to demonstrate an all-composite hydrogen storage
tank that stores hydrogen at 10,000 psi (700 Bar), and the first to achieve a
performance record of 11.3% hydrogen storage by weight at 5,000 psi (350 Bar).
These technology achievements dramatically increase the range of fuel cell
mobile applications.
    In June 2001, General Motors (GM) and QUANTUM announced a partnership to
collaborate on improving the range of GM's fuel cell vehicles through the
development of hydrogen storage, hydrogen handling and electronic control
technologies for fuel cell applications.  (See the GM - QUANTUM joint press
release of June 12, 2001)

    More about Helios:
    The Helios prototype is the fourth generation of all-wing aircraft
designed and built by AeroVironment at its Design Development Center in Simi
Valley, CA, as technology demonstrators for future solar-powered high-altitude
aircraft platforms for science and commercial missions.  The Helios prototype
has a wingspan of 247 feet-longer than the wingspans of the Air Force C-5
military transport (222 feet) or the Boeing 747 commercial jetliner
(195 feet) -- the two largest operational aircraft in the United States.
    The lightweight, electrically powered Helios is constructed mostly of
composite materials such as carbon fiber, graphite epoxy, Kevlar, Styrofoam,
and a thin, transparent plastic skin.
    The Helios fuel cell aircraft uses an electrolyzer to disassociate water
molecules using excess electrical energy generated by the solar cells.  Oxygen
and hydrogen gases are accumulated in separate tanks.  At night, when the
solar cells stop producing electricity, the process is reversed.  The oxygen
and hydrogen gases are fed into a fuel cell that produces water and
electricity.  The electricity is used to power the Helios prototype until the
next morning, when the cycle starts all over again.

    For more information, please contact:

    Alan Niedzwiecki, Executive Director, Business Development
    QUANTUM Technologies WorldWide, Inc.  Tel: (949) 399-4552

    Eileen M. Oswald, Director of Communications
    QUANTUM Technologies WorldWide, Inc.  Tel: (949) 885-7547

    Dale Rasmussen, Investor Relations
    IMPCO Technologies, Inc.  Tel: (206) 575-1594

    QUANTUM website: http://www.qtww.com

    Certain matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking
information that involves risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from current trends.  These include the company's
ability to design and market advanced fuel metering, fuel storage or
electronic control products, the company's ability to meet OEM specifications,
and other such risks as cited in the 2000 annual report on Form 10-K for IMPCO
Technologies, Inc., and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.

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