Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are new, functional materials used in actuator applications with their high power to weight ratio. SMAs dimensions are modified with a temperature-dependent structural phase transition. This property can be used to generate motion or force in electromechanical devices and micro-machines. However, they have traditionally been used as on-off electromechanical actuators, mainly because of the difficulty in accurately controlling the martensite-austenite proportion due to the fact that the microscopic rearrangements involved in the structural changes take place quite sharply and in a highly complex and nonlinear fashion with the hysteresis appearing during the transition. The aim of this research is to develop the methodology and the necessary tools to design and produce linear shape memory alloy actuators. In this book, the test apparatus designed to characterize the shape memory wires is described, then the characterization tests, modeling and control studies performed on a wire are explained. Lastly, design of a SMA wire actuator is investigated as a case study where suitable control strategies are applied on the actuator prototype.