[2] In August 1990, he returned to the United States as a lecturer at the University of New Orleans, a position he held for the next five years.
[5][1] Alongside his appointment in Canada, in January 2017 he was appointed as an honorary professor in electrical engineering at the University of Cape Town, where he had served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering since January 1999.
[2][3] Pillay has served in various positions in committees of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and he won prize paper awards from the association in 1987 and 2003.
[7] In South Africa, he won the 2006 T. W. Kambule Award for Senior Black Researchers, presented by the South African National Science and Technology Forum and sponsored by the National Research Foundation.
[8] On 28 October 2008,[9][5] South African President Kgalema Motlanthe inducted him into the Order of Mapungubwe, awarding him the prize in silver "For his excellent achievement in and contribution to the field of energy conservation.
"[1] He is also a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa,[10] as well as a fellow of the United Kingdom's Institution of Engineering and Technology.