Eric May

Professor Eric May is the Chevron Chair in Gas Process Engineering and a Professor in the School of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Western Australia (UWA). He earned a BSc (Hons) in Physics and a PhD in Oil and Gas Engineering from UWA, with the PhD awarded on 23 February 2004 for research on an advanced microwave apparatus for measuring phase behaviour in gas condensate fluids. His career trajectory includes Lecturer in Process Engineering at UWA's School of Oil & Gas Engineering (2005), appointment to the Chevron Chair (2009), American Australian Association Education Fellow at NIST, USA (2003), secondment to Chevron Energy Technology Research Company (2014), Visiting International Professor at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany (2015–2018), Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2018–2022), Director of Gas Capture Technologies Pty Ltd (2017), Director of ARC ITTC Australian Centre for LNG Futures (2015), and currently Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Future Energy Exports CRC Pty Ltd (2020) as well as Chief Executive Officer in UWA's School of Engineering, Chemical Engineering.

May's research specializations encompass gas process engineering, including density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and phase equilibria of natural gas mixtures and complex fluids under high-pressure conditions; microwave measurements of fluids; pressure, temperature, and flow metrology; LNG production; flow assurance; carbon capture and storage; and gas separations. He leads the Fluid Science and Resources Division with Professor Michael Johns and has secured over $100 million in research funding since 2006, including a $78 million grant for the Future Energy Exports CRC (2020–2030). His innovations have reduced LNG production costs and environmental impact, enabled offshore reserve development, advanced CCS, and improved custody transfer standards; technologies for methane capture are under field testing via Gas Capture Technologies Pty Ltd, co-established in 2017. Awards include WA Scientist of the Year (Premier’s Science Awards, 2021), UWA School of Engineering Award in Research Impact and Innovation (2022), Fellow and Chartered Chemical Engineer (2021), Energy Innovator of the Year (2018), Innovation Award (2015), and Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year (2012). Key publications include “Dynamic simulation of a liquefied hydrogen export terminal” (Energy, 2026), “Industrial advances in helium recovery and purification technologies: a review” (Separation and Purification Technology, 2026), “Equilibrium and advanced kinetic studies of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂ adsorption on ZSM-5” (Adsorption, 2026), and “Comment on ‘Refined Analysis of the Nucleation Curves for Ice and Gas Hydrate Generated from the Linear Cooling Ramp Method’” (Langmuir, 2026).

Professional Email: eric.may@uwa.edu.au