 He undertook his secondary and preparatory studies in Parral at "Instituto Regional", a school managed by the Society of Jesus, and later moved to Monterrey to enroll at the Monterrey Institute of Technology.At Tech he imposed a national record in the 400 meters dash at the age of 22 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in 1965.After his graduation he moved to the United States, where he completed a master's degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1966 and worked for two years as a development engineer for Honeywell, in Minneapolis, before returning to Mexico and rejoining his alma mater in 1968 as an assistant professor.