Steven W. Jochums

Owner & Operator, Lake County SpacePort.com

My real "career" was as a Senior Staff Engineer in the Renewable Energy business unit of Underwriters Laboratories, LLC, where I worked for 27 years and served in many different positions within the company. I had worked as both a product safety and performance reliability engineer for UL in relation to the Photovoltaic (solar electric) Power Industries. Additionally,  I worked in product assessment for safety in the Power System  Products and Power Supply categories. I was involved with photovoltaic module evaluation and testing from 1997 until 2022, along with category development at the companie's Northbrook Headquarters office. I also served on many different National and International PV safety standards development committees during my time at UL.

I became the Primary Designated Engineer for UL 1703 – Photovoltaic Modules and Panels, from 1997 until 2003. During this time,  I served as a U.S. delegate for IEC Technical Committee 82 (Photovoltaics), Working Group 2, which worked to create and maintain the IEC standards on PV equipment. I also served as a U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) representative to the IEC, the IEEE and ANSI.

In 2005, I was presented the UL General Manager’s Award for providing specialized testing for UL's PV clients in Northbrook. I attended numerous UL University training courses, as well as served as an instructor to UL University, conducting training sessions for new Photovoltaic Product Engineers from 2007 to 2009.  I served as Senior Regional Lead Reviewer for Photovoltaic Products and helped provide training for UL engineers from seven different countries, to help UL provide localized service to the global PV industry.  

I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering Technologies from Bradley University,  along with an Associate’s Degree in General Education from Illinois Central College. I am a Professional Engineer-In-Training in the State of Wisconsin. 

Prior to joining UL, I worked for over 19 years in the consumer electronics industry, in direct consumer sales and marketing at Team Electronics of Peoria (IL), Inc. 

While living in Peoria,  I was actively involved with the Peoria L5, a local chapter of the L5 Society, which promoted space commercialization, colonization and space exploitation, for economic benefit of all mankind.

I also worked with the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences’ Planetarium staff by conducting space and model rocketry workshops and events, to increase the interests and awareness of the space sciences in Peoria's young people.

Peoria L5 conducted annual model rocketry launch events at Illinois Central College in East Peoria during the “Spaceweek” period in July (July 16-24), which commemorated the Apollo 11 First Lunar Landing mission and helped to increase public awareness in the space sciences. 

After the Challenger Accident in 1986,  Peoria L5 founder Robin Miller and I were called by local media to serve as the “local experts” on the space program during their coverage of the event. Peoria L5 also conducted a Challenger Memorial Event at Illinois Central College, which provided information on the causes of the accident as documented in the Rogers Commission Report, as well as information on how the country should respond, by presenting the goals of the National Commission on Space Report as the blueprint for America’s future in space exploration and space exploitation. 

A year after the 51-L accident, Peoria L5 hosted "Spaceweek 87," a massive event in cooperation with Lakeview Museum, which featured guest speakers from:

• John Deere Engineering Institute in microgravity metalergical research;
• McDonnell-Douglas Astronautics on Shuttle-based Zero-G medical product purification;
• Comcast Corporation on satellite communications;
• and other presenters speaking on NASA's budget planning and the National Commission on Space report. 

The event culminated in a “Space Banquet,” which offered guests a menu of  Shuttle-themed rehydratable foods and included special guest speakers form John Deere Technical and McDonnell-Douglas. At the end of the evening,  I was presented with the 1987 Peoria L5 "Space Pioneer Award" for my service and contributions to the space advocacy community. 

Prior to Peoria L5,  I founded and operated the Illinois Valley Aerospace Club in my hometown of Roanoke, Illinois. The club focused on model rocketry  and conducted numerous public launch events in Central Illinois and the suburban Chicago areas as representatives of model rocketry manufacturer, Estes Industries. IVAC’s crowning achievement was conducting a wide series of fund raising events from 1977 to 1981, that provided the funds to allow the entire club to travel and witness the first launch of the Space Shuttle, STS-1, as invited guests of NASA on April 12, 1981. The IVAC operated from 1974 until 1984. 

Besides STS-1,  I also attended the launches of STS-4 in 1982 and STS-133, the final flight of Discovery on February 24, 2011. I have toured the Kennedy Space Center 13 times from 1970 to 2024, and toured the U.S Space & Rocket Center and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama four times - in 1977, '81, '82 and '93.   I finally was able to visit "Space Center Houston" and the Johnson Space Center in Texas in 2018 and 2020.

I have aactively studied, researched the American Space Program and its vehicles since 1966, with an emphasis on building both static and flying space models. My scratch-built 1/144 scale Space Shuttle Launch Complex Model was used by Revell Corporation to represent its forthcoming production scale model kit at both the in 1984 Dallas Hobby Show and the New York Toy Fair. The same model was used as the centerpiece for the L5 Society's "Spaceweek 87" event at Peoria’s Lakeview Museum,  in memory of the Mission 51-L Crew.

I continue an active space modeling hobby and has published articles of both real and fictional spacecraft models in numerous magazines and websites.  

Today, I am busy with the affairs of the Lake County SpacePort.com (LCSP), a home-based hobby business I started in 2012, with the re-production of the original Shuttle Tile Decals of Mr. Ed Bisconti for my own model projects. When it became clear that other modelers were also searching for copies of the Bisconti decals for their own modeling projects, I officially started the business. 

From that simple beginning, LCSP has grown in over the past 12 years, providing an entire series of Space Shuttle-related modeling products, as well as products for enhancing models of the International Space Station and other classic Space Vehicle Model kits. LCSP products have been shipped throughout North America and to over a dozen foreign countries. Who would have thought it...

Former Space Shuttle Launch Director, Bob Sieck and I at "Shuttle Fest III," held in Titusville, FL, April 13, 2024, by the American Space Museum and Space Walk of Fame.

Museum Public Outreach Director, Mark Marquette and I at "Shuttle Fest III," held in Titusville, FL, April 13, 2024, by the American Space Museum and Space Walk of Fame.