The event brought together several representatives of the university and research communities, the business and institutional communities, and local elected officials. Among the guests of honour were Janine Bombardier, Chair of the J. Armand Bombardier Foundation, Stéphane Dion, Canada's Minister for the Environment and Member of Parliament for St-Laurent-Cartierville, and Henri-François Gautrin, Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier of Québec and Member of the National Assembly for Verdun.

The building, erected by École Polytechnique and Université de Montréal according to a concept that encourages a multidisciplinary approach, will enable teams of researchers in chemistry, engineering and physics from the two institutions to work together on common topics in five leading-edge fields, including nanotechnologies and nanoscience, biotechnology, aeronautics, aerospace and novel materials. Part of the first floor will be given over to business pre-incubation. The new building, built at a cost of $60.5 million, will be home to some 700 professors, students and researchers.