Brunel University's "Watercycle" looks like an ordinary exercise bike, but just one minute's pedalling can generate one litre of purified water. It is intended for use in disaster-struck areas or very poor regions with limited access to clean water supplies. Tim Denley, of the British Council said the bike is a prototype that demonstrates how to apply innovation and lateral thinking to long-standing problems. In this case it shows that solutions need not be expensive and high tech. "We could use the device in hurricane-stricken areas short of clean water, or people can just purify water while working out", he said.

The UK Innovations exhibition is part of the China-UK International Education Festival 2009. The festival started in April this year and explores how China and the UK can cooperate through education, the arts, science, technology, sport and culture.

"In this exhibition, we wanted to display how British universities contribute to innovation rather than just presenting the detailed prospectuses of Oxford and Cambridge, which can be very dull", said Tim Denley. "Most of our professors spend at least half their time doing research and helping turn scientific achievements into real-world applications."

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