Cambridge and Birmingham Universities researchers are collaborating to create the world's smallest internal combustion engines.
If they succeed, the micro-engine will outlast today's NiCad and Li-ion batteries by as much as 20 times longer!
Research in Europe started at the University of Birmingham in 1999 and resulted in a patented fabrication process and several prototype micro-engines. The proposed collaboration project between the two Universities intends to produce a micro combustion engine, with platform of 5 x 15 x 3 mm in overall dimension and the expected indicated power output at 11.2 W at a speed of the order of 50,000 rpm.