Lambda the Ultimate

I'm going to be a college senior next year and I want to do an honors thesis related to programming languages. I've been scratching my head for topics but though I have an interest in PL, I don't know enough about the field to be able to tell what the outstanding problems are that are the right size for an undergrad.

One of the ideas I've had is to design and implement a programming language, but I'm not sure if this is a good use of my time. It would probably be only a cousin of SmallTalk/JavaScript and I don't think I'd have the time (1 year, part time) to build substantial libraries or features that would set it apart from the crop.

I also think that VMs are an increasingly important field (especially with the rise of multicore) but I know little about this field. My programming languages was theoretical and interpreter based and my own readings have been along the same lines. I have some experience with program analysis (I worked on blended analysis for Java last summer) again, I don't know enough about the field to know what would be a bite-sized problem to tackle.

I do intend to ask my professors for suggestions and I'm thinking about some non-PL topics as well, but any input you guys have would be appreciated as well. I realize that this isn't strictly a PL-oriented question, so feel free to point me to somewhere else to ask my questions.

Thanks for reading through.

Basu