He was a guest scientist in both countries in which he studied for Australia's interest in the manufacturing and reprocessing of nuclear fuels.

[9] This organisation became an advisory group for governments around the world that endeavoured to research into developing and managing new technologies and mitigation strategies in the mining and metallurgy fields.

[3][10] The Australian Mining Hall of Fame described him in 2016 as a “…driving force for the development and formalisation of collaborative research within the minerals industry, across all technical disciplines, for over 25 years”.

[8] In 1952, May joined the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and served on its various committees throughout the latter half of the 20th century.

[5] Moreover, he also had an important role in the success of the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) with Alban Lynch.

This was where he received an honorary award as the ‘distinguished lecturer’ from AusIMM and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME).