When Dan Ludois was growing up near Beloit, Wisconsin, he drew extension cords for fun. As a graduate student, he daydreamed about power conversion.

“Electricity,” says the University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of electrical and computer engineering, “has always been my thing.”

Today, Ludois is a Moore Inventor Fellow and one step closer to bringing a potentially transformative invention into the world.

Awarded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Moore Inventor Fellowship is in its second year of providing freedom and support to the nation’s most promising inventors. Ludois will receive $825,000 in research funding over three years to demonstrate the utility of his electrostatic motor.

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