CSU quest: perfect pool cue

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 11:35 a.m., April 3, 2008
Updated 11:35 a.m., April 3, 2008

There's trouble, right there in Fort Collins — that's a capital T, that rhymes with P and stands for pool cue.

Some study Shakespeare, some study math, but for a few Colorado State University students, the passion is to design the ideal pool cue.

CSU mechanical engineering Professor Dave Alciatore is teaching his students the mechanics of physics by challenging them to design a cue stick that will reduce "squirt."

"Squirt" is what happens when a cue strikes a billiard ball off-center, sending it spinning off-target.

They're working with a cue manufacturer that wants to come up with the billiards equivalent of a golf driver with an extra large sweet spot.

"It's a passion and it's interesting work," said Alciatore, who is an expert on robotics and the motion of machines. "I tell my students that they'll be able to use anything they learn here in many, many fields."

The students already have built a cue-testing machine from scratch to measure and compare different cue sticks by measuring the squirt.

Next, they plan to add sensors to measure vibrations and speed of the cue.

"We finally get to apply everything we learn on an actual project," said Chris Ward, one of Alciatore's senior mechanical engineering students. "Unfortunately, I'm still a pretty awful pool player."

Alciatore's first major project after arriving at CSU in 1990 was writing 3-D software to recreate human anatomy as part of the National Institutes of Health's Visible Human Project in Denver.

He took a sabbatical in 1998, joined a pool league and grew passionate about the game.

He wrote a book, "Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards," to counter mistakes in other books that talked about the physics of billiards.

One of his heroes is French physicist Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis, who wrote a book on billiards in the 1800s.

Among the eyebrows not raised in regard to the professor's novel teaching approach are those of Mike Palmquist, the director of The Institute for Learning and Teaching at CSU.

Palmquist likes Alciatore's technique because it connects important engineering concepts to what students already know.

"This is one of the keys to good teaching — helping students understand how they can make these connections," Palmquist said. "His illustrations of the concepts of spin, angle, velocity and momentum through billiards are brilliant.

"Students can view them and not only increase their understanding of engineering, but learn to impress their friends on Saturday nights."

Alciatore writes a monthly column for Billiards Digest, and has created a billiards web site, billiards.colostate.edu, that contains a shot-by-shot anthology of pool techniques.

"I do all the technical work behind the scenes and present the results in a form that helps people who play pool be better pool players," said Alciatore. "I don't play as well as a pro, but I know a lot about the game."

The professor, known as "Dr. Dave," also co-teaches a course on billiards fundamentals each fall and spring for the Fort Collins recreation division.

• April 3, 2008

  12:35 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Gene writes:

  On the subject of connecting engineering concepts to what students already know, I wonder if the good professor has credited W. A. Mozart for his contributions. Mozart loved billiards and was also fond of drinking 'punch.'

• April 3, 2008

  1:28 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  buzzman writes:

  SPARE ME THIS BS-not even news worthy

• April 4, 2008

  11:25 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Blackjack writes:

  Dave

  You're doing great things up there in mile high country! Thanks for all you do in the world of pocket billiards!