He received his B. S. M. E. from Duke University in 1992, his M.S.M.S.E from the University of Washington in 1994, and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1998. Prior to his recent appointment to Purdue, he was Principal Investigator and Program Leader within the Materials Science Division and the National Center for Electron Microscopy at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Professor Stach's research focuses on the development and application of advanced electron microscopy techniques for the real time observation of nano-structured crystal growth and nano-materials reliability.