Walter Bassett
Sir Walter Eric Bassett
Even during his early academic career Bassett maintained a private engineering practice, providing heating and ventilation consultancy services. His systems were installed in many prestigious buildings in Victoria and elsewhere in Australia. During the Second World War he was chairman of the Australian Army's Mechanisation Board and a member of the Commonwealth Advisory Committee for Aeronautics as well as carrying out works in war factories and military hospitals. Bassett's firm was highly active in the post-war years and he was knighted in 1959. Bassett retired in 1971, but continued to work on a consultancy basis until his death.
Early life and military service
Bassett was born on 19 December 1892 in
Bassett joined the
On 19 April 1917 Bassett transferred to the Australian Flying Corps, serving with the Royal Air Force's No. 40 Squadron. He was wounded in the hip on 1 June 1917 and evacuated to England. Bassett's injury required him to use a walking stick for the remainder of his life. He was declared unfit for future service and his employment ceased on 28 January 1918.[1]
Academic career
Bassett returned to Melbourne and studied aeronautics. He joined the faculty of the University of Melbourne's engineering school in 1919, lecturing in mechanical engineering and aerodynamics. At Melbourne Bassett arranged the construction of the first wind tunnel in Australia.[1] He married the historian Marnie Bassett in a Methodist ceremony at the university rooms of her father, Sir David Orme Masson, on 25 January 1923. They had two sons and a daughter; the eldest son drowned during the Second World War.[1]
Bassett received a master of mechanical engineering degree from the University of Melbourne in 1927. Bassett received the university's
Engineering practice
During his early academic career Bassett maintained a private engineering practice which was consulted on heating and ventilation matters by architects of prestigious buildings such as the chapter house at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, the Frankston Orthopaedic Hospital, the Melbourne Town Hall and the Williamstown Town Hall. Bassett established a full-time engineering firm with two staff in 1928, establishing W. E. Bassett & Partners, though he also remained a member of the university faculty until 1957. He maintained a focus on heating and ventilation services, providing design and supervision for systems in numerous hospitals, offices and G.J. Coles stores. He pioneered designs such as a carbon dioxide–based air conditioning system used at the Bank of New South Wales headquarters in Melbourne and installed the first centrifugal air conditioning systems in Australia at Parliament House, Adelaide, and The Courier-Mail offices in Brisbane. By 1939 he had expanded with offices in New South Wales.[1]
During the Second World War Bassett served as chairman of the Australian Army's Mechanisation Board and as a member of the Commonwealth Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. His firm carried out works for the government, installing equipment at aircraft production facilities, munitions facilities and military hospitals. He also installed six low-pressure chambers for training Royal Australian Air Force personnel in high-altitude operations and assisted in the installation of a penicillin fermentation plant for the
Bassett's firm prospered in the post-war recovery, carrying out works in rural hospitals and newly built factories, including for
Other interests
Bassett was a director of Renison from 1958 to 1968 and of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company from 1969 to 1974. He was also director of Colonial Mutual and several fertiliser companies.[1]
In 1963 he was elected president of the Melbourne Club. In 1973 he was appointed an honorary member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and was the founding president of the Copper Producers' Association of Australia. He was also a trustee and member of the finance committee of the Melbourne Museum of Applied Science and an honorary consultant to and member of the finance committee at the Parkes Observatory. In his spare time he enjoyed sailing, fishing, golf and woodwork.[1]
Bassett died at
References
- ^ ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
- ^ "No. 29837". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 November 1916. p. 11548.
- ^ "No. 41728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 June 1959. p. 3736.
- ^ "Aecom Technology Corporation". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 1 December 2021.