This presentation reviews recent processing advances in sintering and grain growth
processes that have resulted in exceptional ceramic materials. It will be shown how to control sintering of Nd:Y3Al5O12 for exceptionally transparent laser gain media. First, the principles and mechanisms of templated grain growth to fabricate textured ceramics will be outlined. Then, two examples of textured ceramics will be presented to illustrate how texture leads to improved piezoelectric and structural properties.