Industrial designer Jeremiah Welch ('08) helped build a
telepharmacy system that could reduce costs and improve safety
Story by Elaine Porterfield If a movie director put out a
casting call for someone embodying the Pacific Northwest, it
would probably be Jerimiah Welch: rock climber, kayaker and,
naturally, high-tech entrepreneur improving the lives of people
everywhere. Welch (’08, Industrial Design) has been developing a
virtual telepharmacy system based on digital cameras and
computers that allows smaller hospitals to share the vital
services of pharmacists and bigger hospitals to reduce
medication errors and save money. It’s the first time Welch,
director of the New Market Design Lab in Bellingham, has ever
been involved in the medical field, but he’s finding it
intriguing. He’s working with client Envision Telepharmacy,
based in Texas. “What my client is doing is creating a system
that runs over the Internet that allows smaller hospitals to
either share a pharmacist or allows pharmacists to do emergency