While in undergrad, I always thought that I would want to be an engineer for the rest of my career since that always seemed like the exciting part. While engineering can be fun and fulfilling, it is also challenging, making it such a rewarding career. Managerial roles on the other hand seemed more like pushing paperwork and dealing with the responsibilities beyond engineering such as constant meetings with higher ups and back and forth with other roles. This made staying within engineering all the more appealing. However, one thing that stood out between engineering and management was that management gets to see the project out. Working under a project manager, I was able to work directly with them throughout the entire phase of the project and it was extremely satisfying being there towards the last few stages and watching the products ship out. I will never forget the feeling of holding a part in my hands in its early conception and being involved in every operation to process it and finally ship it out. I found that this is what separates engineering and management. With managerial roles, you can see the product out till the very end whereas with engineering you are working on one or more parts and then handing it off to the next team. This made me realize that eventually I do want a managerial role down the line. It would be ideal to work as an engineer for the next 3 - 4 years and then take on a managerial role.   

During projects in and out of the classroom, I have typically assumed both roles. I enjoy being hands on, using my technical knowledge, and working on aspects of a project but also like to plan and coordinate with others on their parts as I always have the end product in mind. Much like @srp98, I hope to eventually assume a managerial position, which as per the PMI Talent Triangle, requires technical project management, leadership, as well as strategic and business management skills. One of my peers from undergrad is currently working a project management position and has explained to me that managerial positions tend to interact with cross-functional teams way more than those in technical positions. She has also explained to me how managers form the backbone of a company and help to see a product to market. I believe a big influence on the position one would prefer depends on the size of the company, the number of products they regularly work on, the organizational structure, the experience required, and the environment. Interested to see if others agree and/or could point out other factors that would influence their decision.

For those in this thread who see this post, I am curious about your transitions in positions (if you have already) from technical track to managerial or vice versa.

How difficult was the transition between roles? If coming from managerial, was it difficult to assume the role of a follower (not a leader/manager of the project)? If coming from technical, how difficult was it to get your group to follow your protocols? Did you instill new ideas or expectations for them, as to abide by your plana nd allow your plan to be executed, or did you follow the protocol of previous manager(s)?

In my 1.5 year experiences in where I work, I have both worked in the lab environment and have seen what happens when a person is solely in the project management department and also in the lab. I have worked in the lab for the past year or so and after I was promoted to my current job, I see that i have been transitioning more into the managerial state and have dealt more and more with upper management and have been bogged down with paper work and other essential functions to keep the lab running and not necessarily to run the lab. I believe it is the same with being an engineer vs a project manager where one person actually does the development where as the project manager makes sure that the development can ensue and function properly. The way that i envision it is as being an actor and slowly transitioning into a more of a director or a producer level. Where one person does the actual function where as the other plays more of in the background and making sure that everything functions as it is supposed to. In my current opinion, I believe for me a managerial role would be the best because of what @srp98 had said of being able to see the project from start to finish and being the one that allows for the project to function. There is a sense of satisfaction that you were able to essentially conduct the train from the start to finish and to know that it was your responsibility and you did it successfully.

My feelings on this topic echo some of the other responses above since I have had to assume both roles in the past meaning more of a leadership role and more of a technical role. In my experience I prefer being in a more technical role since it feels more fulfilling to me to be actively involved with the development of something new and I enjoy being able to apply the skills I have learned for both years of school and research and put them to good use. Whenever I have to take a more leadership role I tend to struggle since again my skill set is technical in nature and has been honed for many years whereas I feel like I have not been given much of a chance to grow my managerial skill set. Of course one day I am sure I will learn those skills and will maybe be more willing to step into that role but for now I would make the decision to stay in more of a technical role. Like I said it depend on what skill set do you personally have.

Having been in both roles (at an almost interchangeable rate) - I think there are pros and cons to both, and I do believe that having experience in both a managerial and technical role makes you all the more appealing to future employers. Often you hear of those who are mainly in technical roles having little to no "people" experience, and those who have only been managers their entire lives can have little technical knowledge. I think it's great to dip your toes into both fields. Personally, I found myself enjoying being a manager but also craving the technical field and wanting to deep dive into an engineering/process improvement role. I think both have their ups and downs. I personally would recommend that if given the flexibility in your current role, you should experience both. I never thought of myself as a manager before stepping into a role like that, but I found that I enjoyed the experience.

I totally agree with @njq3, it's a good idea to experience managerial roles early in your career path because it's a rare opportunity. You might not think you would ever be suitable in a managerial position and may want to continue career in technical field. But sometimes the later role grows on you as you work in a company for long time. You start taking decisions and start leading groups of people because your manager is too busy managing other parts of the team, i.e. communicating with other departments. This is the case where I work currently and manage my fellow colleagues unofficially. I took the chance positively besides working on my own projects. I believe this allows me to really learn well from other coworkers and their projects and also push me to grow within the company. But I think if someone really likes the technical part of their career, they should hold off to move to manager position officially since most of the time it's hard to revert back. 

But at the end, it all depends on the person. Whatever drives you, excites you, makes you feel accomplished or even what makes you feel drained- are all indicators of what career path to choose. But only way to find out is taking all opportunities to experience both early in career. 

I've had to make the decision to move from a technical track to more of a managerial track. To quickly touch on @nk434, the transition was not as bad as I thought it would be. I wanted to pursue technical research and work in a lab on product development. But as soon as I got a taste of what that looked like, I knew I did not want to do that. So I switched gears to more of a managerial track and realized that this is what I'm good at, interacting with people, using a team to achieve a common goal, and helping others become leaders. It was not hard to make this transition because as soon as I started, fundamentally they were similar in using different techniques to achieve a common goal. Technical research involved protocols that looked slightly different, but what I learned from my technical track was that the protocols are one thing, and doing the actual thing is another. With this in mind, I gathered the team to dissect the procedures they adhered to under the previous manager. And as a team, we identified what worked and what didn't work and were able to make the needed changes to help us achieve a task more effectively.