Previously, he has been an assistant professor of Operations Research at the University of Padova (1997-2002). He holds a Laurea in Scienze dell'Informazione from the University of Udine (1990), and a M.S. (1993) and Ph.D. (1997) in Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA. Among grants and recognitions received there are the William Larimer Mellon Fellowship grant (1991), MURST's Borsa di Studio per Attivita' di Perfezionamento all'Estero (1990), the A.C.O. Grant for Proficient Students (1994).