W. L. Gore & Associates Wins DuPont Plunkett Award for New GORE Universal Pipe Gasket Product

ELKTON, Md.--Aug. 2, 20044, 2004--The GORE(TM) Universal Pipe Gasket has been recognized in the 2004 DuPont Plunkett Awards competition, an annual awards program recognizing companies for innovation using DuPont fluoropolymers. A Third Place award for the Americas Region was won by the GORE(TM) Universal Pipe Gasket, a breakthrough gasket introduced by W. L. Gore & Associates that has low creep, high tensile strength and low stress-to-seal characteristics.

"The winners of this year's Plunkett Awards again demonstrate the valuable contribution of DuPont(R) Fluoropolymers in innovations that make a difference in people's lives by reducing costs or improving performance," said Cindy Green, global business manager for DuPont Fluoropolymer Solutions. Each winner was selected for its entry's degree of innovation, breadth of use, and commercial significance.

The development of the GORE(TM) Universal Pipe Gasket was made possible due to new PTFE materials that possess improved mechanical properties. These gaskets exhibit low creep, high bolt load retention, high tensile strength, and low stress-to-seal. These four characteristics, working in concert, produce a tighter seal with less leakage over the life of the gasket. And because they deliver outstanding sealing reliability across a wider range of piping systems, GORE(TM) Universal Pipe Gaskets are well-suited for use in the sealing of chemical process pipe flange connections. For the first time, they allow for standardization of piping gasket material by chemical processors, enabling them to realize large dollar savings throughout their processing facilities.

This year's Plunkett Awards competition represented the ninth year of the awards program. The competition was established in 1988 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DuPont(R) Teflon(R) fluoropolymer resin by Dr. Roy J. Plunkett, a DuPont scientist. The 2004 award entries were judged by a panel of independent experts representing academia, the plastics industry, trade associations and the industry trade press.

For over 30 years, Gore's Sealant Technologies Group has developed innovative PTFE gaskets, seals and other fluid-sealing products for both standard and unique sealing and pumping applications. For more details on GORE(TM) Universal Pipe Gaskets and their effectiveness in helping to standardize the use of gaskets in process piping systems, contact Gore's Sealant Technologies Group toll-free at (800) 654-4229, or visit www.gore.com/sealants.

Note to publication: Please forward inquiries to Alice Scott, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., 201 Airport Road, Elkton, MD 21921 USA.

GORE, GORE-TEX and designs are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

DuPont and Teflon are trademarks of E. I. du Pont de Nemours, Inc.