He studied electrical engineering at the Politecnico di Milano and graduated in 1947 with a thesis on signal transmission, a microwave radio bridge between the cities of Turin and Trieste.
His research interests then turned to models and analog computers as an assistant professor, and in 1953 he received a grant from the National Science Foundation in order to study at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
He would travel to Italy on an old Liberty merchant ship along with the precious machine, packed in cotton balls in order to protect its valves from dangerous vibrations.
An additional problem was that, at the time, Italy's taxation imposed the application of a small paper slip similar to a stamp (proving payment of duties) on each and every valve used in the machine.
The machine reached, at last, the Politecnico di Milano in September 1954, where it was activated in the 2SUD back room, and became the first working digital computer in Italy and continental Europe.