The vacuum of space may seem empty and boring; however, this void is actually teeming with activity. According to the laws of quantum mechanics, fluctuations of electromagnetic fields are omnipresent even in empty space. These fluctuations can manifest themselves in a variety of ways, including the generation of nanoscale forces between objects—a phenomenon known as the Casimir effect. In this talk, I will discuss our development of novel measurement techniques to probe these interactions and how we can engineer and control such quantum effects for useful devices. I will demonstrate our ability to tailor the sign and magnitude of the force, as well as how we can induce rotations (i.e. a Casimir torque) between optically birefringent materials. Beyond interesting science, our ability to control these interactions will give us new opportunities for nanoscale devices and to modify chemistry and electronics in ways not previously possible. Finally, I will briefly outline a few additional research areas from our lab related to novel optical phenomena, materials, and devices.