BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, U.S.A. – May 20, 2003 – iFire Technology Inc., a subsidiary of The Westaim Corporation, today demonstrated a high-performance 17-inch prototype display with superior luminance, contrast and color uniformity to an audience of flat panel scientists and industry peers at the annual Society for Information Display (SID) conference held in Baltimore, Maryland.

The prototype flat panel employs iFire’s new Color-by-Blue^TM manufacturing method, and operates with performance specifications equal to commercial television products sold today. The new prototype display has the following specifications:

“The display industry needs a flat panel alternative for television that does not require billions of dollars in capital to manufacture in order for products to be profitably sold at prices the majority of consumers can afford,” said Anthony B. Johnston, President of iFire Technology. “Our progression to the Color-by-Blue^TM method further simplifies an already simple flat panel technology and will lead to reduced future capital expenditures and lower module costs.”

The simpler Color-by-Blue^TM manufacturing process was made possible by recent performance improvements to iFire’s blue inorganic phosphor. The Color-by-Blue^TM process achieves luminance and color superior to the previous triple pattern process, as well as increased contrast, better grayscale rendition and exceptional color uniformity across the panel. In addition to these performance advantages, iFire expects the Color-by-Blue^TM method to lead to capital and production cost reductions of approximately 15 percent, as it requires even fewer processing steps, reduces manufacturing cycle time, and offers easier phosphor deposition and better uniformity control, all of which will improve manufacturing yield. Employing Color-by-Blue^TM, iFire estimates the capital cost of a large volume (250,000 display modules per year) manufacturing facility to be less than US$160 million, which is far lower than the capital requirements for all other flat panel technologies.

Color-by-Blue^TM is based on the physics of photoluminescence. An iFire^TM display uses electricity to excite inorganic phosphors, which then emit light. With iFire’s traditional triple pattern method, three electrically active phosphors are used to generate red, green and blue light. With Color-by-Blue^TM, iFire’s high luminance inorganic blue phosphor is used in combination with special color conversion materials, which absorb the blue light and re-emit red or green light, to generate the other colors.

iFire^TM displays have a significant manufacturing cost advantage over other flat panel technologies. iFire plans to begin commercial volume production of 34-inch high-definition television (HDTV) display modules in 2005. Initial commercial production is planned to be done with Dai Nippon Printing, which will utilize its primary production line in Kashiwa, Japan, to develop the front-end manufacturing processes for iFire’s thick-film dielectric electroluminescent (TDEL) display technology. The panels will then be shipped to iFire’s facility in Toronto, Canada, where back-end processes such as the deposition of blue phosphor, column electrodes, and color conversion layers, as well as electronics assembly, will be completed by iFire. The company also has a non-exclusive technology collaboration agreement with Sanyo Electric Co. of Japan, which includes development work on 34-inch panels.

The Westaim Corporation’s technology investments include: NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals, which researches, develops and commercializes medical devices and pharmaceutical products based on its nanocrystalline silver technology; and iFire Technology, which has developed a revolutionary low-cost flat panel display. Westaim's common shares are listed on Nasdaq under the symbol WEDX and on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol WED.

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For more information contact:

David Wills, Investor Relations
The Westaim Corporation
(416) 504-8464


info@westaim.com
www.westaim.com
This news release may contain forward-looking statements, including those concerning capital and production cost reductions and advantages, production methods and location, manufacturing productivity and production timing. These statements are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and the Company can give no assurance that these expectations are correct. Various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such statements, including (i) complexities associated with developing the flat screen manufacturing process; (ii) cost estimates based upon assumptions that may prove not to be realistic; (iii) general industry and market conditions; and (iv) the other risk factors set forth in our Form 40-F as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intention or obligations to revise forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this Cautionary Statement.