DALSA Corporation (TSX:DSA), an international leader in high performance digital imaging and semiconductors, is pleased to announce that Dr. Savvas Chamberlain, DALSA's founder, CTO and Chairman, is the recipient of an Outstanding Service Award from the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) for 2008.

The award, presented at ITAC's Annual Banquet on October 15, 2008, recognizes "significant and meritorious contributions toward the establishment and growth" of the eMPOWR (Microelectronics, Photonics, Optoelectronics and Wireless and Radio engineering) industry in Canada.

Dr. Chamberlain founded DALSA in 1981 while still a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Waterloo. In his acceptance speech, delivered by his son George, Dr. Chamberlain shared the type of entrepreneurial advice that has helped him to steadily grow DALSA to 1000 employees and $200 million revenue.

"I capitalized DALSA in 1984. At the time the Venture Capitalists were whispering behind my back that ‘you cannot succeed in Electronics and Semiconductors in Canada.' But they invested $600,000 because I was so persistent.

"Please do not believe the negatives you hear in the Canadian newspapers and from Bay Street research analysts. I believe that the entrepreneurial spirit in Canada is alive and well. High tech companies will do well in Canada as long as they continue to innovate on their technology."

Dr. Chamberlain further urged today's high tech entrepreneurs to "also innovate on marketing in a well focused manner. Market your technology in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). If you believe it, you will succeed."

The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) is the voice of the Canadian information and communications technologies (ICT) industry. ITAC represents a diverse ICT community spanning telecommunications and internet services, ICT consulting services, hardware, microelectronics, software and electronic content. ITAC's community of companies accounts for more than 70 per cent of the 572,000 jobs, $140.5 billion in revenue, $6.0 billion in R&D investment, $31.4 billion in exports and $11.4 billion in capital expenditures that the ICT industry contributes annually to the Canadian economy. ITAC is a prominent advocate for the expansion of Canada's innovative capacity and for stronger productivity across all sectors through the strategic use of technology.

About DALSA Corporation
DALSA is an international leader in high performance digital imaging and semiconductors with approximately 1000 employees world-wide. Established in 1980, the company designs, develops, manufactures, and markets digital imaging products and solutions, in addition to providing semiconductor products and services. DALSA's core competencies are in specialized integrated circuit and electronics technology, software, and highly engineered semiconductor wafer processing. Products and services include image sensor components (CCD and CMOS); electronic digital cameras; vision processors; image processing software; and semiconductor wafer foundry services for use in MEMS, high-voltage semiconductors, image sensors and mixed-signal CMOS chips. DALSA is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "DSA" and has its corporate offices in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

For more information, please contact:
Patrick Myles
Vice President, Corporate Communications
DALSA Corporation
Tel: (519) 886-6001 Ext. 2177
Fax: (519) 886-3972
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.dalsa.com