Allen B. Salmasi received two bachelor's degrees from Purdue in 1977, one in electrical engineering and one in management economics. He completed his master's in electrical engineering at Purdue in 1979 and later completed a master's in applied mathematics as well as doctoral coursework in electrical engineering at the University of Southern California. While working on NASAUs Land Mobile Satellite Service program from 1979 to 1984, Salmasi held various technical and management positions with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

In 1984 he founded Omninet Corp. and at various times in the ensuing years served as chairman of the board, president, and CEO of the company. When Omninet merged with QUALCOMM, Inc. in 1988, Salmasi became a member of the Board of Directors and vice president of planning and development. At Omninet and QUALCOMM he made significant contributions to the conception and development of Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS) and digital cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. He directed the research and development of OmniTRACS, the world's first and largest operational land mobile satellite communications service.

Salmasi is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Sigma Xi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Phi Eta Sigma.