One of the most exhilarating things I have ever experienced was applying my coding skills to making stuff people can use and then (the important part) have people use it. I can't perfectly describe how awesome it feels but this is a good description (I suspect it has something to do with this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_res... ).

So if you love your engineering, do stuff for other people!

If you love open source, join a project.

If you like the scientific side, implement a paper and open source it.

If money drives you, create an mvp for a need of a person you know has.

If you can't find that need do what I did a year ago: micro dev task delegation, i.e. rent yourself by the hour to help devs around the world (I actually published it here on HN) - it paid my vacations and I got to code for awesome people in awesome projects.

If you love good software design and awesome architecture write about your opinion with code samples demonstrating them. Hell, learn a new programming language (Haskell makes your brain tick :)).

I think a good developer that loves his craft is always a few hours away from something amazing. You probably just don't know it yet.

Disclaimer: MSc in Soft. Eng. so I know it sucks to feel the void.