Artificial Muscle, Inc. Appoints Charlie Duncheon as Vice President of Marketing and Sales; Duncheon Joining Management Team of New Innovative Smart Materials Company

MENLO PARK, Calif.--July 12, 2004--Artificial Muscle, Inc., a new company that designs and manufactures actuator components based on electro-active polymer artificial muscle (EPAM) technology, is pleased to announce that Charlie Duncheon has joined the firm as the vice president of marketing and sales. Charlie brings over 20 years of high technology marketing and sales management experience to Artificial Muscle, Inc. His most recent experience was as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Adept Technology, Inc., a publicly traded company in the factory automation components business. Mr. Duncheon has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Southern Illinois University.

"Charlie brings us extensive experience in market development, channel development, customer service, and sales in the demanding industrial components industry," said Alex Beavers, CEO and founder of Artificial Muscle, Inc. "His successful track record and industry reputation will be a valuable asset to us at AMI as we begin the commercialization and market entry of our unique and patented EPAM technology."

Mr. Duncheon will report to CEO Alex Beavers and will be responsible for worldwide marketing and sales for AMI.

About Artificial Muscle Incorporated

Artificial Muscle, Inc. (AMI) is a high technology company that designs and manufactures actuator and sensing components based on the new technology platform called electro-active polymer artificial muscle (EPAM). EPAM technology is called artificial muscle because it behaves much like a human muscle, expands when exposed to an electric current and contracts when the electricity is removed, thereby converting static electrical field energy into programmable mechanical motion. It offers significant advantages over typical electromagnetic-based technologies because it is much lighter, smaller, quieter and cheaper, and offers more controllable and flexible configurations. EPAM devices serve as lightweight, highly efficient alternatives to actuators, small motors, generators, sensors, and speakers used in products ranging from automobiles to audio speakers. AMI is serving a market that currently measures $4 billion in size with artificial muscle-based components for industrial, medical, consumer, automotive, and aerospace applications.

AMI was founded by SRI International, which is a Silicon Valley non-profit research and development institute that has a history of 50 years of developing advanced technologies, to exclusively commercialize artificial muscle technology. EPAM technology was developed at SRI over a 12 year period. AMI became an independent company in early 2004 with venture fund financing from Vanguard Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, and NGEN Partners.

For further information contact AMI at info@artificialmuscle.com.

Artificial Muscle is a trademark owned by Artificial Muscle, Inc. EPAM is a trademark owned by Artificial Muscle, Inc.