Imad grew up in Dhaka, Bangladesh and has been trained as an Electrical and Electronic Engineer (EEE) during his BSc (2009) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

Imad was awarded an Erasmus Mundus scholarship for a 2‑years MSc (2012) in photonic science and engineering. He studied in Universiteit Gent, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and the University of St Andrews, focusing his research on integrated photonics. His MSc thesis was “Photon‑pairs generation in photonic crystal optical fibre” under the supervision of Dr F. König (University of St Andrews). During this time, Imad also travelled far and wide and met people from all over the world.