On Wednesday 10^th our dissertation topics were finally allocated. I luckily got the one I wanted. Well it was billed as:

Spline stressed membrane structures
A spline stressed membrane structure is essentially a fabric type structure stressed and supported internally by flexible rods, bent into spline curves. They have a similarity to air supported structures but with the splines providing the equivalent of the internal pressure. However, to increase their robustness to snow and wind loading, additional internal air pressure can be added when necessary. This project aims to model the behaviour of such structures and assess the physical limits.
(analytical) joint with Mike Barnes –MEng only

However as I mentioned that I was keen to do my own programming Mike Barnes suggested something more like:

Details to follow as and when.