Sinter formed materials have been studied in this project. The powders used were stainless steel powders and zinc oxide powders. Three stainless steel powders were studied to evaluate the compressibility, shrinkage and densification during sintering and strength behaviour. The effect of sintering temperature on the high strain rate behaviour of stainless steel powder compacts has been investigated. A dynamic constitutive equation, which describes the material behaviour under dynamic loading, has been established. This equation takes into account the density of the compact. Regarding ceramic powders, the compressibility of four zinc oxide varistor powders have been studied taking into account the particle size, binder content, binder type and lubricant. The green and sintered strength of ceramic compacts have been assessed in relation to the above mentioned parameters. As for sintering, it was required to optimize the temperature profile of the sintering process. To accomplish this, two instruments were developed. The first one was used to monitor and control the weight loss, due to the binder burn out, at a constant rate. The second instrument was developed to monitor and control the shrinkage during sintering. The optimized temperature profile during binder burn out was checked for verification and it has proved reliable. A brief look at the grain growth during sintering was carried out to see the effect of heating rate and soaking time on the grain growth since this is a critical material property influencing the electrical characteristics of zinc oxide varistors.