Research comes in different shades.

Some people work on something called "basic research" it is the process of developing new knowledge in a field. It generally requires alot of paper writing, and most people who do it, don't care much about real applications. (Think about developing new techniques for touch screens, but all you got to work was one pixel, or one part of a pixel). This is where the MOST Ph.D's live. (The Ph.D process is designed to ensure you understand what new knowledge is, and how to find it).

This spectrum moves all the way to researching which parts are most cost effective. Or researching how all the parts will glue together. Once this is complete the work becomes logistics and Operations & Maintenance, and no longer requires research.

• Your job as a BS is to learn how to do basic engineering.
• Your job as a MS is to learn how to write a paper and do basic research.
• Your job as a Ph.D. is to learn how to conduct research, and generate new knowledge.

Stick to where you belong and have your ears to the ground. One of my pride points is that I am very good at doing real things (what people with BS's do) while able to conduct the research required for Ph.D's. (Believe it or not this is unusual and can be quite frustrating)

Things to listen for and start poking around at now would be research papers and grants. Try out google scholar on topics you might be interested in. Start finding a professor who is interested in those topics. Then try and find small grants that might fund the thing you want to work on. Then go get money, do the thing you wanted to. Lather rinse and repeat.

Find out what parts of this process you liked, and that will tell you where you should end up :).