​Controlling quantum systems on demand stimulates advances in quantum material and information science, paving the pathway for next-generation electronic and photonic devices with larger information capacity, faster processing speed, and lower energy dissipation. The advent of ultrafast lasers has raised new possibilities for manipulating material properties using femtosecond pulses.At the intersection of quantum physics and laser science, ultrafast optical control enables on-demand engineering of the microscopic parameters that determine macroscopic properties. A prerequisite for such control is to understand the underlying dynamics of quantum systems on the femtosecond timescale. To this end, my research interests are twofold: first, investigating the microscopic mechanisms which govern the dynamics of quantum systems upon light irradiation by harnessing a combination of complementary time-resolved scattering and spectroscopic techniques; second, developing protocols for surgically engineering electronic phases with tailored light pulses in controllable ways that are inaccessible under equilibrium conditions. Driven by these interests, I have made contributions in four key areas, which are detailed in the following sections.​​​