Family businesses are some of the most important economic contributors in the United States, accounting for approximately 64% of the U.S. GDP. The family business model, which refers to any business with two or more family members on the board or in ownership, is a crucial and enduring part of business in the Seattle area and abroad. Historians have often pointed out that the family business model seems to be the base model for business and has thus been present since the beginning of organized business, often in the form of farms, merchant companies, banks, and other small businesses. Despite its prevalence, the family business model is far from perfect because of its numerous commonly encountered limitations. One of the limitations family businesses face is the challenge of succession, as only about 30% are able to succeed from the first generation to the second. Other limitations relate to growth, sustainability, and qualification problems. This study, conducted as a literature review, uses a combination of peer-reviewed articles and popular sources (chosen based on criteria of relevancy and prominence) as quantitative data to examine the consensus of family businesses in Seattle and the solutions that have been proposed to address these limitations. Interviews with family business owners in the Seattle area were also conducted to provide qualitative data and to highlight specific opinions. The economic and historical implications of Seattle family business are also discussed. This research aims to provide insight into otherwise costly financial, succession, and leadership difficulties in order to ensure that the family business model is an enduring contributor to the Seattle economy. Having the proper knowledge on how to approach these difficulties and reconcile with their seemingly conflicting nature can help family businesses in the Seattle area thrive while working through complicated business situations.

While discussing as a group what types of experimentation we could potentially do, we had a variety of different ideas. We thought that with the DC plasma source available to us, it would be interesting to compare how the cleanliness of the vacuum chamber impacted when breakdown would occur. For our research, we are using a DC Plasma Discharge device, which creates a plasma between two electrodes inside of a vacuum chamber. A high DC (direct current) voltage is applied across the two electrodes and a current flows between them. Plasma, the 4th state of matter, is a gas where electrons have been stripped from atoms or molecules in a gas. What results is an electrically charged gas consisting of negative electrons and positive ions. The point at which a gas becomes a plasma is called breakdown. Breakdown depends on the pressure in the vacuum vessel, the distance between the electrodes, the type of gas and the voltage applied. A Paschen curve relates the breakdown voltage to the product of the distance between the electrodes and the pressure in the vacuum vessel. Our goal was to see how a dirty vacuum chamber would impact the Paschen curve. We expected that breakdown would happen at lower voltages with the clean vacuum chamber. We obtained data for creating the curve by running the plasma tube and measuring the pressure as the voltage increased while the vacuum chamber was contaminated with oil. We recorded pressure and voltage values for when breakdown occured and repeated this process with different distances. We then gathered the same data after the vacuum was cleaned. The implication of our research is that it will add to information on how the cleanliness of a vacuum chamber determines when breakdown happens in a plasma tube. In the future, more trials could be run and different gases could be tested. 

The purpose of this experiment was to visualize and record the different rates of expansion for multiple gases as they are launched into the higher parts of Earth’s atmosphere with a High-Altitude Balloon (HAB). The ideal gas law models the behavior of a gas that of which its molecules occupy no volume and have no intermolecular forces (IMF). It is a simple equation; however, it cannot model gases accurately. On the other hand, Van der Waals equation for non-ideal gases better resembles the behavior of a real gas as it includes what the ideal gas law lacks. To test this, we filled three syringes with three different gases to the same volume. We chose to test argon, helium, and nitrogen. We secured the syringes to a container, which served as the payload for the HAB. We also placed an altimeter, thermometer, and a barometric pressure sensor inside the container. Then, we connected the sensors to an Arduino to record each piece of data synced to a stopwatch that is displayed in the container on a screen. Finally, we secured a camera to the container facing the stopwatch and syringes to record the gasses’ volume. Because helium has the weakest IMFs out of the three gases, we believed helium would expand at a higher rate as atmospheric pressure decreases compared to the other gases. The results from our experiment serve as a good example of how far the behavior of real gases deviate from ideal gases modeled by the ideal gas law. Depending on how close our measured values reach the calculated values from the ideal gas law, we can predict which situations the ideal gas law can model the behavior of a particular gas relatively accurately.

We collected and compared the spectra of air plasma and argon plasma in a dirty and clean direct current (DC) plasma discharge device. After cleaning the plasma tube we hypothesize the measured plasma spectrum will have fewer lines because it wont have as many impurities. The fourth state of matter, plasma, is matter that has been superheated, causing the electrons to be ripped from the atoms. This forms an electrically charged gas that consists of negative electrons and positive ions. Our plasma was created using a DC plasma discharge device. This device creates a plasma between two electrodes inside of a vacuum chamber. A high DC voltage is applied across the two electrodes and a current flows between them. DC plasmas can be utilized as sputter sources to deposit thin films for solar panels and the purity of the plasma can affect performance. Our vacuum vessel was accidentally contaminated with oil and dirt. To evaluate the effectiveness of our cleaning practices, spectra was measured for plasmas in the vessel contaminated with oil and other dirt and then again after the vessel was cleaned. Spectra, the range of wavelength produced when light is dispersed, emitted by air plasma and argon plasma were measured between 645 nm and 1050 nm with an Ocean Optics ST-NIR spectrometer. Spectra before and after cleaning were compared to measure the effectiveness of the cleaning. Our research provides evidence for the best way to clean DC plasma discharge devices in order to remove impurities. The conclusion of this analysis is imperative for efficient thin film plating using DC plasma.

A direct current (DC) discharge is one method for producing plasma. Plasma, the 4th state of matter, is defined as the separation of positive ions and electrons in a gas. A gas transforms into a plasma in an isolated low-pressure area between two electrodes, a cathode and an anode. The DC discharge, particularly the DC glow discharge, has historically been significant for both investigating plasma characteristics and providing a weakly ionized plasma for various uses. This project explores the utilization of Faraday’s Law as a fundamental principle for quantifying plasma currents. A fundamental principle of electromagnetism that I have been exploring on this project is Faraday’s Law, this law is especially useful in plasma physics when figuring out the current flowing through a plasma column or confinement device. The device I am building is called a B-dot probe which will be used to measure the current when the discharge turns on. The B-dot probe is essentially a coil made of conducting wire with a “tail” (twisted pair). Through a series of tests, I have procured the average magnetic field produced by the plasma current. From this average magnetic field and geometric measurements the average plasma current is deduced. Plasma is used everywhere now a days like in your TV and neon lights as well as in nature like the aurora borealis. With this research I hope to make the understanding behind the physics of plasma as well as it's magnetic fields easier to comprehend.