Michelle Mullins
May 1, 2026
Sixty area students took part in Accelerate Climate Solution’s third annual Building Leadership Around Sustainable Transformation, or BLAST, competition, which encourages students to create solutions to address climate change and sustainability.
First place in the competition and a $1,000 prize went to Ian Wang, of Naperville, and Oscar Lee, of Northbrook, who are students at the Illinois Math and Science Academy.
Their project, OPIS: Oil Pipeline Impact Simulation, created an interactive app that simulates the environmental and economic impacts of oil pipeline spills, a news release from Naperville-based Accelerate Climate said. Their app took complex data and transformed it into a user-friendly tool for the public and policymakers.
Read more on the Naperville Sun website.