there is a big gap in what goes on in the industry and what goes on in universities.

Give that man the award for Greatest Understatement of the Year :-)

A sort of "eXtreme R&D" if you will.

Hit the nail on the head again. That is precisely what goes on in industry (trust me, I spent over two decades there).

As for me, I don't know as yet what I will specialize in, but in all probability its not what I will eventually make a career out of :-D

Congrats on entering your Master's program, but be forwarned: If you stay in the US, your career will likely be shorter than what you expect. After age 40, your job prospects begin to decline; after age 50, your job prospects will be essentially zero. That's the way companies do business here. Likely a result of the fact that companies in the US are run my PHB's with MBA's (also know as morons) and not by engineers. Many of the college students I know are bailing out of CS programs because of this sad fact.

Hope you have better luck, but don't count on it.