The Norbert J. Kreidl Award for Young Scholars, recognizing research excellence in glass science, is open to all degree-seeking graduate students (MSc or PhD) or those who have graduated within a twelve-month period of the ACerS Spring Meeting in Bellevue, Washington, USA, April 12-16, 2026. A letter from a faculty advisor verifying compliance to this rule must accompany the application. The selection is based on an extended abstract of the nominee’s work (approximately 2,000 words plus figures) relevant to interests of the Division.
Nomination Process
All applicants are required to submit two abstracts:
- Submit one short abstract on the ACerS online abstract submission site for the GOMD annual meeting. Contact Karen McCurdy at kmccurdy@ceramics.org for access if the GOMD abstract deadline has passed. This short abstract will be used in organizing the technical program of the meeting and in publication of the meeting’s abstracts.
- Submit an extended abstract of the same title, (2,000 words maximum plus figures and tables) to the GOMD Division Chair Jose Marcial for evaluation by the Kreidl Award Committee. Note that the extended abstract (and faculty advisor letter) is required for consideration of the nominee by the Kreidl Award Committee. The winner of the Kreidl Award will be asked to present his/her lecture at a special Awards Session at the 2026 GOMD meeting. The presentation may be co-authored by a faculty advisor, but the technical work must be conducted by the student. The winning presentation will be given by the student only.
The winner receives a $500 honorarium, a certificate, complimentary meeting registration, and a commemorative glass piece.
Attendance at the 2026 GOMD meeting to present the Kreidl lecture is a requirement, so only those who can attend the meeting should apply.
For more details on all GOMD awards you may qualify for, see the attached GOMD Awards Table.
Contact
Nominations should be sent electronically to:
Jose Marcial
2025–2026 Chair, Glass & Optical Materials Division
and ACerS Staff Member Vicki Evans
Award Winners
Cosmin-Constantin Popescu
Cosmin-Constantin Popescu is a Senior Staff Engineer at 2 Pi Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, where he works on the development of advanced optical metasurfaces for commercial photonic applications.
Popescu received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, completing the degrees in 2020 as part of an accelerated program under the supervision of Prof. Steven May. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2025, where he conducted research in optical phase change materials-based devices under the guidance of Prof. Juejun Hu.
Prior to joining 2 Pi Inc., Popescu briefly served as a research specialist at MIT during the summer of 2025. Earlier in his career, he participated in the co-op program at Drexel University, including a position at Johnson Matthey in Wayne, Pennsylvania, 2019, where he worked on product development for diesel engine emission catalysts.
He has co-authored 20 peer-reviewed publications, including six as a first author, which have collectively received over 900 citations and resulted in an h-index of 12. He is also an inventor on one patent. His research has focused on phase-change materials, chalcogenide glasses, metasurfaces, and integrated photonic devices. His work published in Small Science was recognized as an Editor’s Choice article, and his publication in Advanced Materials received the 2024 H.J.E. Reid Award from NASA for outstanding scientific research publications. He has also presented his work at the ACerS GOMD in 2022.
Currently, he is focused on developing metasurfaces for commercial applications, combining materials engineering with a focus on reliability and optical device design for advanced optical solutions.