Kennametal Inc. announced today that it has named Raj Datt as Vice President and Chief Information Officer effective September 25, 2006. In this role, he will lead Kennametal's global information technology organization. Datt comes to Kennametal from Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, where he served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Prior to that assignment, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in IT at GE Transportation Systems and GE Power Systems, as well as with other global firms including Boeing. Datt was elected an Executive Director of Matsushita Electronics USA in 2004 and became Vice President in October 2005. He is a winner of the 2006 CIO 100 award for "IT Innovation and Business Transformation."

"We are very pleased to have Raj join the Kennametal team," commented President and CEO Carlos Cardoso. "His global IT leadership experience across a broad range of industries makes him an excellent fit for our strategic growth plans. Kennametal intends to grow both organically and through acquisitions so that one-third of our business is from North America, one- third from Western Europe, and one-third from the emerging economies. We rely heavily on world-class IT services to help us grow and support our customers whatever their geography."

Raj holds a degree in finance and accounting from the University of Northridge, California, and has completed an executive program in supply chain management at UCLA. He is Six-Sigma green belt certified.

Kennametal Inc. is a leading global supplier of tooling, engineered components and advanced materials consumed in production processes. The company improves customers' competitiveness by providing superior economic returns through the delivery of application knowledge and advanced technology to master the toughest of materials application demands. Companies producing everything from airframes to coal, from medical implants to oil wells and from turbochargers to motorcycle parts recognize Kennametal for extraordinary contributions to their value chains. Customers buy over $2.3 billion annually of Kennametal products and services-delivered by our approximately 13,500 talented employees in over 60 countries -- with almost 50 percent of these revenues coming from outside the United States. Visit us at http://www.kennametal.com/. [KMT-G]

SOURCE: Kennametal Inc.