On April 21, Komatsu Ltd. (President & CEO: Kunio Noji) received the Fiscal 2010 JSME Medal for New Technology selected and conferred by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) for the development of the Hybrid System for Construction Equipment at the award ceremony held as part of JSME's general meeting. Created in 1958 to encourage the growth of Japan's mechanical engineering and industry, the JSME award is one of the most prestigious technology awards in Japan. This is the second award given to Komatsu, following the Fiscal 1989 award.

Our Hybrid System for Construction Equipment reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in the following manner. The electric motor to turn the upper structure of the hybrid hydraulic excavator converts kinematic energy, regenerated when the turning of the upper structure slows down, into electric energy. This electric energy is then stored in the capacitor and is reused for the next turning of the upper structure. It is also reused through the power-generating motor as assistant energy to accelerate the engine revolution speed. Construction equipment generates over 90% of total CO2 emissions, due to the fuel which is consumed when it is used by customers throughout its life cycle of production, use and disposal. Thus, lowered fuel consumption directly reduces CO2 emissions.

For the JSME Medal for New Technology, the JSME evaluates not only the originality and excellence of the concerned technology, but also the social contribution and business result factors. We introduced our hybrid hydraulic excavator on the market for the first time in the world in June 2008. In December last year in Japan, we launched sales of the new HB205 and 215LC with improved general-purpose applicability and productivity compared to our first hybrid model, which is in operation mainly in Japan and China today. The JSME Medal reflects not only the technological excellence of our Hybrid System but also good sales of the first models.

As a leading company of construction equipment, Komatsu will broaden the hybrid hydraulic excavator model range and apply the Hybrid System to other construction equipment, thereby proposing specific construction equipment models in order to reduce our environmental impact in response to growing environmental protection needs of the world.

Simultaneously with the JSME Medal for New Technology, we received the Fiscal 2010 JSME Medal for Outstanding Paper from the JSME for our research paper entitled "The Square Cup Deep Drawing by Variable Blank Holder Force" jointly written by Kanazawa University with whom the Komatsu Group has concluded the academia-industry collaboration agreement. This was the first time for the Komatsu Group to receive two awards simultaneously. We used an AC Servo press of Komatsu Industries Corporation to verify the validity of this research. The Research findings should make a major contribution toward improvement of the quality of press forming technology.