This response helped. I myself am faced with a similar problem. I like cryptography so I learnt it and implemented it in some self-developed applications. But

This response helped. I myself am faced with a similar problem. I like cryptography so I learnt it and implemented it in some self-developed applications. But all i was doing was using API's/libraries/modules written by someone else. I wanted to be a part of the API creation/maintenance process which is actually just being part of some open-source projects. I am going to try the approach mentioned by you.