This course provides a review of all relevant issues concerning the processing and sintering of advanced ceramic materials - discussing powder preparation and characterization; colloidal and sol-gel techniques; powder consolidation and forming; sintering theory and practice; and microstructure evolution. The course shows the importance of each step; and the critical interconnections among the steps; in the overall fabrication of ceramics; focuses on the formation of ceramics by firing consolidated powders; reveals which ceramic manufacturing methods are easier to employ and why; covers the properties of colloidal suspension; elucidates the liquid-phase sintering and vitrification; describes the role of solid solution additives in the sintering of ceramics; considers the densification of amorphous materials that can crystallize during firing; and more.