The Timken Company Sponsors 'Engineer of the Year' Award

CANTON, Ohio, March 7, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- The Timken Company announced today its sponsorship of Design News' "Engineer of the Year" award. Timken and the former Torrington Company have had a long-standing tradition of sponsoring the program since its inception in 1987. Readers of Design News, a leading trade magazine covering mechanical and electromechanical design engineering, recently voted for the winner and the recipient will be announced in April. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991012/TKRLOGO ) The Engineer of the Year award recognizes the great minds behind significant developments in the field of engineering. Each year, Design News editors nominate for the award those engineers who have led the most significant engineering projects and solved the most difficult technical challenges. The editors investigate the nominees' backgrounds and accomplishments and then profile the candidates in the pages of the magazine. The magazine's readers then vote for their choice as the leader of the profession. An educational grant is donated in the winner's name to the engineering school of their choice. "Engineers truly are the professionals who through their technical accomplishments are most responsible for the quality of life we have. We are honored that through the generosity of The Timken Company, we are able to recognize them for those accomplishments and spotlight them as the role models they are," said Dan Hirsh, publisher - Design News. "It is increasingly important to support the engineers of tomorrow," said Roger D. Knudsen, vice president - engineering, The Timken Company. "Engineering is the backbone of our company and programs such as this help to further develop those who will lead us into the next wave of engineering advancements." Past winners of the Design News' Engineer of the Year award include: Paul Bevilaqua, who's design work at Lockheed Martin was instrumental in landing the largest aircraft contract in history; Tom Vos, director of safety systems at TRW and prime force behind the development of auto safety systems; Alan Mulally, president of Boeing Commercial and leader of the design efforts for the Boeing 777; and Brian Muirhead, Jet Propulsion Lab/NASA engineer who led the Mars Pathfinder program. Timken bearings and steel can be found in all these applications. The Timken Company ( http://www.timken.com ) (NYSE: TKR) is a leading global manufacturer of highly engineered bearings and alloy steels and a provider of related products and services with operations in 26 countries. The company reported record sales of $4.5 billion in 2004 and employed approximately 26,000 at year-end.