In general, research jobs tend to be held in a more relaxed atmosphere than their industrial counterparts. Employees are held to fewer tight schedules and deadlines, but these restrictions still do exist. As with any job, success and failure are integral parts of research. The area you are placed in can sometimes be glorious and other times quite commonplace. But as a student, do not expect to be given any task that will immediately award you a Nobel Prize.
Student related tasks can often be dreary and monotonous, but can also be very educational.
Remember employees for these positions and employers in general hire people to do work they either do not want to do or can not do, not because they have extra money and want to give it to a well deserving engineering student. Many research positions can be found on campus, especially at large, research universities. This gives research positions an added advantage in that students can usually quite easily extend research jobs well into the academic year. The longer you work on your research assignment, the more you can expect increasingly interesting tasks. Duration will also give you the added benefit of seeing more parts of research, from its conception to its design and so forth.