Walter Bassett

Sir Walter Eric Bassett KBE, MC (19 December 1892 – 8 March 1978) was an Australian engineer, soldier and academic. He studied engineering at the University of Melbourne before joining the First Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. Bassett won the Military Cross for gallantry on the Western Front before transferring to the Australian Flying Corps. Wounded in the hip on 1 June 1917 Bassett was disabled for the remainder of his life. On his return to Australia he joined the faculty at his alma mater, lecturing in mechanical engineering and aerodynamics. Bassett arranged the construction of the first wind tunnel in Australia. He later helped establish aeronautical engineering courses in Sydney and, in 1958, joined Monash University as a lecturer and member of its council. Bassett received honorary doctorates from Monash and Melbourne.

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.