He attended high school in capital at an Italian boarding school (Don Bosco Boarding School) and left Iran in 1964 for the United States to pursue his college education. He received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineer at Iowa State University (ISU) in 1969 before moving to California. After working as an engineer in Santa Barbara for two years, he enrolled at University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles where he received his M.S. in 1972 and his Ph.D. in 1976 both in electrical engineering.