OPSIDIAN offers a Novelty, Collaboration and Research Experience (CREATE) oriented training program to promote skills such as diversity and interdisciplinary communication, teamwork, and leadership.

The acronym OPSIDIAN stands for "Optimizing Power Skills in Interdisciplinary, Diverse & Innovative Academic Networks".

This program is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to the tune of 1.65 million dollars for a maximum of 6 years. It was obtained by Professor Isabelle Villemure of Polytechnique Montreal in collaboration with ten co-applicants from two provinces of Canada (Ontario and Quebec). 28 employees will also participate in the success of the project.