Alfred University alumnus wins prestigious glass science award

ALFRED, NY – Alfred University alumnus Brian Topper, who earned a master’s degree in materials science and engineering in December 2020, has been named recipient of the prestigious Oldfield Award, presented annually by the Society of Glass Technology in recognition of students’ theses and research projects.

The Oldfield Award honors excellence in students’ undergraduate project theses and taught masters theses. It is open to students in the United Kingdom—where the Society of Glass Technology is based—and international students from around the globe. Topper was presented with the overall first prize; the second place winner and two third-place winners are from institutions in the UK.

Topper’s master’s thesis, which he successfully defended in November 2020, was on the structure of lithium and strontium borate glasses modified with yttrium and rare-earth cations investigated by vibrational spectroscopy. He was supervised in his thesis by Doris Möncke, associate professor of glass science in Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering, New York State College of Ceramicsat Alfred University.

Topper, who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Richmond, is working on his Ph.D. in optical science and engineering at the University of New Mexico, where he serves as a graduate research assistant. His current research, with Arash Mafi, director of the Center for High Technology Materials and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UNM, is focused on laser cooling silica.  Their latest results, which represent a new world record in the optical refrigeration of silica, are set to be published in the journal Optics Letters.