ENGINES powered by cups of hot coffee and organic televisions that roll up and fit in your pocket were some areas of university research on show this week.

Research teams at Durham University exhibited their work at the Elvet Riverside Building on Monday, to show the public some of the ground-breaking initiatives they are working on.

Researchers with the Centre for Automotive Research were on hand to describe their part in the race to come up with the world's most efficient solar-powered car.

The team is aiming to develop its model so it will reach motorway speeds. They will be taking it on a test run from John O'Groats to Lands End next summer.

Other ideas being worked on in the School of Engineering include a tiny engine, which if sat on a cup of hot coffee will run from the heat emitted, but could be used in an artificial heart, using body heat to run a mechanical pump.

Dr Ken Durose, director of the Department of Physics and Centre for Renewable Energy, has come to the attention of the government with his progress on creating solar panels, which would be so thin they could coat the outside of a building.

Big businesses also have their eye on research being carried out at Durham University. Researcher Dr Lars-Olof Palssol is looking at materials that could be used to make flat, organic display units for televisions or computers.

Philips and Sony have already shown their interest in the research and the technology should be made available by 2010 or 2015 for anything from televisions the size of credit cards to paper-thin lap-tops that can be rolled up like a newspaper.