The research programme on Engineering Ceramics comprised phenomena relevant to the materials synthesis and component fabrication as well as mechanisms leading to degradation of engineering ceramic structures under operating conditions. Within the scope of this research programme the role of chemisorbed anions in controlling the reactivity of uncoated AlN powder to be used in aqueous ceramic slurry as a constituent and/or as a setting agent was studied. Thermally activated hydrolysis reactions of AlN powder were than successfully exploited for solidification of aqueous ceramic suspensions in an impermeable mould. Furthermore, water-resistant AlN powder has been developed which will not react with water even after drying and/or re-dispersion. The effect of magnesium additions on the inter-particle potential of diluted well-dispersed aqueous alimina suspensions was investigated. Due to the formation of coordinative bonds between magnesium ions and carboxylic groups of the dispersant molecules, weak flocculation of the suspension takes place and the resulting short-range repulsive potential was confirmed with atomic force measurements. Also investigated were inter-particle forces acting between ceramic particles in non-aqueous media, as well as their role in the rheology of ceramic suspensions to be used in wet forming by injection molding and recently developed deformation processing. The latter involves repeated folding and rolling of the starting bi-material laminates prepared from paraffin-based pastes, and subsequent sintering. After a sufficiently large true plastic deformation, composites with ribbon-like microstructures were successfully produced, which exhibited almost isotropic sintering behaviour and attractive mechanical and/or electric properties. Also considered in the programme were microstructure-properties relationships, in particular the role of processing in the performance and reliability of sintered ceramic components. Here, emphases was given to the effect of surface grinding and sandblasting on flexural strength and Weibull's modulus of tetragonal zirconia ceramics for dental applications. We were also interested in the mechanisms and the kinetics of the reactions leading to a material's degradation under operating conditions, such as the sliding wear of oxide ceramics in the presence of an aqueous lubricant, the low-temperature degradation of the tetragonal zirconia in an aqueous environment, and the corrosion of hot pressed and sintered AlN-SiC-MoSi2 composites at high temperatures by oxidation.