The ever increasing need for technology development requires the integration of inexpensive, light weight and high strength materials which are able to meet the high standards and specifications for various engineering applications. The intention of this work is to show that the suitable material selection and the utilization of plasma spray processing can be of potential interest to a large number of industrial, biomedical and everyday life applications. This research demonstrates also that plasma processing is a promising engineering tool for multifunctional coatings and near-net-shape manufacturing. Further, the theoretical and experimental results are combined in order to explain the mechanisms behind nanostructure retention and enhanced properties. Proper design of experiments, an appropriate material selection and experimental methodology are discussed herein. The experimental conditions were optimized in order to achieve the best materials properties according to their explicit properties and functions. Specific materials were consolidated according to their prospective performance and applications: 1) Plasma spraying of nano-Ceria-stabilized Zirconia free form part for stem cells scaffolds, 2) Plasma spraying of FeCrAlY on Ti-alloy plate, additionally coated with nano-size Hydroxyapatite for bone tissue engineering, 3) Wire-arc spraying of nano-based steel wires for aerospace and automotive applications. The performance and characteristics of all of the developed coatings and free-form-parts are evaluated using state-of-the art characterization techniques.