Karen Dobson is a leading advocate for advanced manufacturing in Australia. Throughout her career at Dow and her many advisory roles, she has influenced industry, government and university researchers to address issues of water scarcity, climate change and the circular economy.

In her early career, she worked on the design and implementation of reverse osmosis systems throughout Asia, reducing the energy demand and cost of water desalination for industry and municipalities. More recently, she has advocated for the roll-out of best-practice environmental technologies, influenced changes in plastics recycling practice and championed commercial investment in recycling technology.

She is a director of Chemistry Australia and the Business Council of Australia, a council member at the Royal Institution of Australia, and an advisory board member at the University of Queensland’s Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation

Karen Dobson is a change management leader in Australia, influencing industry, government and university researchers to address issues of water scarcity, climate change and the circular economy. In her early career, she worked on design and implementation of reverse osmosis systems throughout Asia, reducing the energy demand and cost of water desalination in arid regions. More recently, she has advocated the role of advanced manufacturing, driven changes in plastics recycling practice and championed commercial investment in recycling technology. Her many Board and Advisory Committee roles will assist ATSE in policy development and advocacy in these critical domains.