He received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering and master of science degrees in electrical engineering and chemical engineering from the University of Louisville, and his bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Cleveland State University.

Tatarko concentrates his research in the areas of enhanced transport properties of nanoparticle-infused base oils, non-linear regression analysis and data-mining via self-organizing feature maps (SOFMs), process analysis, simulation, and control; fuzzy, robust, optimal, and minimum variance, and six-sigma/ lean manufacturing methodology within the chemical process industry (CPI).

He has been published in The Journal of Applied Physics and has presented at several conferences including the AIChE National Conference, the ACS Colloids and Surface Science Conference at Johns Hopkins University, and the Midwest Thermodynamic Conference at Notre Dame University.

Tatarko has received several awards including the Ohio Space Grant Scholar Award, Tau Beta Pi, and the Academic Excellence Award at Cleveland State University.

Before coming to Clarkson, he served as an associate professor of practice at the University of Wyoming. Before that, he was an associate professor at Olivet Nazarene University, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri before that, and an instructor at the University of Louisville while working on his master's degrees. He is also the President and owner of KMD Prescisioneering, and is a Professional Engineer.

He is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the International Society of Automation (ISA).