July 25, 2006 — FEI Co. of Hillsboro, Ore., announced on Monday that Don Kania has been named president, chief executive officer and a board member of the company. He is expected to start at FEI Co. in mid August. The appointment marks the end of a search that began with the stepping down of previous CEO Vahe Sarkissian, who left FEI in April.

Kania, 51, was the president and chief operating officer of Veeco Instruments Inc. of Woodbury, N.Y., where he has worked since 1998. Prior to that, Kania held technical and general management positions of increasing responsibility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. He holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics and engineering from the University of Michigan.

“Don brings a wealth of business and technological experience to FEI, and I am very excited that he has decided to join our company,” said Ray Link, chief financial officer and interim chief executive officer of FEI, in a prepared statement. “His leadership and background, particularly in Asian markets, will help FEI continue to grow and prosper. He is an outstanding person to add to our already strong and seasoned management team, and we are all looking forward to working with him.”

“FEI has great technology strengths, large and expanding market opportunities and a dedicated group of employees worldwide,” said Kania in a prepared statement. “I’m looking forward to building on that foundation and working with the existing team to continue our operating improvements, take advantage of our great potential, generate solid returns for our shareholders and create growth opportunities for our employees.”

Veeco and FEI came close to merging in 2002 but the companies bowed out of the deal, citing poor economic and market conditions.