From FX to Rx: Oscar-winning software designer Tom Williams left a film career and is pioneering computerization of drug-development research notes.

IF Hollywood seems a world away from laboratory drug development, Tom Williams has found a bridge.

Eight years ago the self-acknowledged software geek was pocketing two Academy Awards for helping develop computer animation programs used on the dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park."

These days he's knee-deep in notebooks--the paper kind still used by researchers to record critical data during drug development. At Santa Monica-based startup GenSys Software Inc., where Williams is chairman and chief executive, the goal is to bring the process into the digital age. The only question is why it wasn't done already.

"It's insane," said Williams. "It's hard to believe."

More than two decades after the first IBM personal computer was introduced, scientists are still stuck on paper when it comes to recording their lab work, largely for legal reasons. When patent disputes arise, the notes can be key to winning or losing.

But GenSys, which released the first version of its software last September after several years of development, has completed two sales to drug developers so far.

Williams put his mark on animation software while working at Pixar Animation Studios and George Lucas' Industrial Light + Magic, among other firms. Now he finds himself in an altogether different realm.

"I was surprised to find out where he was going, but you have to slay other dragons," said Kevin Townsend, a former colleague of Williams" at ILM.

The research beast

In this case, the dragon is a hidebound process that researchers at major pharmaceutical manufacturers and other companies have followed for decades. From pages and pages of graphs generated by a test, certain parts are printed out for inclusion. "It's literally cut and paste," Williams said.

The paper notebooks, which must be signed and countersigned, are legal documents submitted with patent applications. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, adoption of computerized lab notebooks has been slow.

"The records that are kept in these books are critical to the defense and attack in a court of law," said Rich Lysakowski, executive director of the Collaborative Electronic Notebook Systems Association, an industry group that promotes standardized electronic record systems.

GenSys got into the business after spinning off in 1998 from National Genetics Institute, a Culver City firm that offers DNA testing for HIV, hepatitis and other diseases. Originally, GenSys was started to create databases ,and other software for National Genetics--something it still does. But there also was an opportunity to move into the electronic notebook market.

Last September, GenSys introduced the first version of a product that allows researchers to share data, access their notebooks from remote sites, see what other company researchers are doing, and provide an assortment of other benefits that a computer has over a sheaf of paper.

The company has closed two deals so far, one with Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. and another with an undisclosed firm. It is working on others, including a possible pilot program with one of the nation's biggest drug manufacturers.

Williams joined GenSys shortly after it spun off, but his wider interests date back to his days at Villanova University, where he flirted with philosophy before majoring in computer science and electrical engineering.

"I realized you couldn't get a job as a philosopher unless another philosopher dies," the New Jersey native deadpanned.

Before graduating in 1986, he wrote software code part-time for the Commodore Amiga, one of the first personal computers. He and a friend also wrote a software application called Gnuplot to help visualize differential math equations. The software is in wide use today by NASA and other science organizations.

"It was a surprise, we thought no one would want it." he said. After college he worked lot a defense contractor, and later visited Pixar on a trip to the West Coast and was hired there. He helped lead the team that developed a key piece of software for producing three-dimensional computer animation. By the time "Toy Story" was released in 1995, he had moved to ILM.

"I am always interested in challenges. I am not a maintenance guy," he said.

Williams was executive in charge of digital production at ILM, helping break technological ground with "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Jurassic Park."

He and several colleagues won their two Oscars in 1996. One was for a three dimensional painting system that was used to put lifelike characteristics onto the dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park," and another was for a system that allowed for more sophisticated stop-motion animation of the model dinosaurs.

Feeling he had accomplished much of what he had set out to do, Williams joined Silicon Graphics Ltd., the Mountain View computer graphics firm. He was vice president of a division created by the acquisition of two graphics companies, Alias Research and Wavefront Technologies.

He led their integration and shepherded the release of Maya, animation software used in the creation of "Finding Nemo'" and other recent computer animated movies.

Williams left Silicon graphics once Maya was released, and found his way to GenSys.

Mike Aicher, a founder of GenSys and a director, said Williams seemed like the perfect fit for the job, despite never having worked directly in laboratory science.

"He understands all the details of code. We just didn't want to hire a manager," said Aicher. "I was impressed that he had an Oscar, but I was more impressed that he didn't make a big deal out of it."

PROFILE

GenSys Software Inc.

Year Founded: 1998 Core Business: Electronic laboratory notebooks Revenues in 2002: $4 million Revenues in 2003: $4 million Employees in 2002: 25 Employees in 2003: 33

Goal: Gaining five new customers in 2004, including three in the Fortune 500

Driving Force: The need to fully computerize the research process in drug company laboratories