Those Who Know Dave Bassett Might Say his Life Resembles One of the Classic Ford Mustang cars he enjoys restoring: Each part has been carefully chosen, patiently assembled and impeccably honed until an entire vehicle stands ready for a spin.

A 37-year veteran of Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.-based PPL Corp., the engineer credits much of his success to the education he received almost four decades ago at PMC College, now Widener University.

“I have an unspecified B.S. degree in engineering,” said Bassett. “This has led me to be able to apply my knowledge on a much wider basis than some of the more narrow degrees that are issued today. I can talk to one engineer about hydraulics and valves just as easily as I can talk to another one about bridge design and statics, or about integrated circuits and problems with an 1100-MW generator.”

According to Bassett, keeping an open mind has helped him professionally as well as personally. Instead of joining the family business like many of his relatives, he became the first person in his family to earn a college degree. As a university student, however, he was dead set on pursuing a career in computers and integrated circuit design.

“Believe it or not, that's not where the jobs were when I graduated in 1971,” he said. “When an opportunity at PPL presented itself, I took it. I went from milliwatts to megawatts, and it's the best decision I ever made.”

Bassett began his career with PPL at one of the company's twin coal-fired super-critical power plants, where he stayed for seven years before moving to the engineering department. Because of his power plant background, he became part of a review team for one of PPL's first nuclear facilities.

“Then, I made an unplanned career change one day at a meeting when my supervisor asked if anyone wanted to help a farmer connect a generator to the PPL system,” he remembered. “For some reason, I put up my hand. That started an entirely new facet of my career. I ended up writing the company standards for connecting generation. Later on, I worked on IEEE 1547 standards for doing the same thing. I also worked with state and federal governments, helping them write some of their standards.”

Today, Bassett is a senior staff engineer at PPL Electric, specializing in substation protection, control and communication and also in generation interconnections.

“It's funny how things have come full circle, because I now do practically everything on computers,” observed Bassett, who received a patent on computer software for the control system and method for parallel operation of voltage regulators in 1996. Over the years, he also has dabbled in building and reconditioning computers.

In addition to technology, another of Bassett's passions is bringing vintage Ford Mustangs back to their original glory. Again, he credits his college education for inspiring a love of restoring automobiles.

“In college, my senior project was to build a quarter-scale electric car,” he said. “My group managed to procure some of the newer silicon control rectifiers, which were very expensive at the time. I think we used an aircraft starter motor and some 24-V batteries. Then, we needed a frame, so I went down to the shop and my instructor gave me some welding lessons. I ended up building the entire frame for the car from scratch.”

So far, Bassett has refurbished a 1969 Mustang coupe he purchased from his mother, two 1965 coupes, a 1966 coupe, a 64 ½ convertible and a 1967 coupe.

“I've sold all of them except my mother's 1969 coupe and the convertible,” he said. “The '69 is completely original and only has 52,000 miles on it. The convertible is a real collector's item. Currently, I'm rebuilding a 1966 Mustang Fastback.”

Like the roads he travels in his classic automobiles, Bassett has experienced a few of life's ups and downs. Approximately three years ago, the engineer lost his wife of more than 30 years to cancer.

“It was quite a shock to the system, to say the least,” he said. “However, I've recently remarried, and guess what? She came with a 1986 Corvette. The joke around the house is that whenever I work on her car, I have to go out and buy new tools. My tools are only for Fords.”

After almost 38 years at PPL, Bassett admits he will probably start thinking about retirement, but he still enjoys what he does and coming to work. Before retiring, his goal is to see the increased use of newer technologies implemented.

Future personal plans include building a kit car, such as a Cobra or GT 40, as well as a new house from a geodesic dome kit, using geothermal heating and cooling, and of course a multicar garage.

“We'd like the house to be very energy efficient,” Bassett said. “I'm planning to do as much I can by using my engineering background. But just like with my career, you never know when you may come across something unexpected.”