From Chaos to Clarity: How Liam Helped Shape TU Delft’s First AI Dream Team

Written by Sascha Engelvaart

Before ChatGPT was doing everyone’s homework, there was Epoch, a brand-new DreamTeam at TU Delft, still figuring it all out. In its second year, Liam joined: a student who didn’t know much about AI, but saw potential in the team.

I sat down with Liam to hear the real story, his year at Epoch, the successes, the chaos, the lessons, and where it all took him. And no, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows stories. Because DreamTeams aren’t filled with experts, they’re full of students who have no idea what they’re doing (yet). That’s kind of the point. 

For Liam, that challenge, the chaos, the uncertainty, was exactly what made it worth it.

Just… why?

When Liam was studying Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft, something didn’t quite fit. “It was not a 100 percent match,” he admitted. He thought about switching to Technology, Policy and Management (TPM). But before making this decision, he wanted to try something different. 

That’s when the idea of joining a student DreamTeam came up. He knew that TU Delft was known for its student teams, groups of motivated students developing innovative technologies and competing globally. Liam figured that now was a good moment to join one of them, and then decide if he wanted to continue his studies or switch to TPM.

So, one evening during the COVID lockdowns, he joined an online “interest drinks” event, where all the DreamTeams pitched their teams. As he sat behind his screen listening to the pitches, one team stood out: Epoch. The AI Dream Team.

A team with no legacy, and that’s what made it so interesting

Epoch wasn’t building rockets, cars, or boats. They weren’t improving a project with years of history. They were new. Really new. Epoch had only existed for one year. It all started with a group of friends who thought, “Let’s start an AI student team.” By the end of that first year, they got the chance to become an official DreamTeam, and they went for it. 

That lack of legacy, of rule and expectations, was exactly what caught Liam’s attention. Liam wasn’t an expert in AI. He had heard about it in class, and read a few things online. But that wasn’t what drew him. 

While other teams were refining their tenth generation solar car or boat, Epoch was still asking the question: What exactly are we? Liam found it exciting. “The idea that they were new I found super cool, because I thought I’d have a lot of freedom” he explained. What did not interest him at all, was teams where they had to respect last year. “I wanted to do something unique. I liked that they did new competitions, because every new competition was a chance to innovate and to try something new.”

A sip of curiosity

After the drinks, Liam started researching what AI was and what Epoch was doing and what they stood for. The more he read, the more interested he became.

Soon after, he met up for coffee with Mathijs, one of Epoch’s co-founders. That conversation flipped a switch. He enjoyed the way Epoch positioned themselves, not just the tech side but exploring the societal impact of AI. That conversation turned out to be the beginning of something much bigger. 

Leading without a manual

Liam decided to apply. He went for the role of Team Manager, not just because it sounded interesting, but also because he was thinking about switching to Technische Bestuurskunde (TPM). “This felt like a good way to see if it suited me.”

After the interviews, he got the spot: Team Manager of Epoch II.

He was excited, finally, to have a chance to build something impactful. No checklist. No rules to follow. Just a blank page and the freedom to write the future of Epoch.

“It was a naïve approach,” he admitted later. But “this was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” which he did not regret.

The Team Weekend: Welcome to the Chaos

The first time Liam saw the entire team together was during the Team Weekend. He arrived thinking everyone would be ready for the year, full of plans. 

Well… They weren’t… Not even close.

“None of us really knew what the year was going to look like,” said Liam. He realised that being in the first year of DreamTeam did not come without its challenges. There was no structure, no masterplan, no long term vision and nothing to inherit. Just a rough idea and a name.

Some people were excited about building an AI model. Others just liked the idea of working with a cool group of ambitious students, but in very different ways. Curious, enthusiastic, but no one was quite on the same page.

Liam suddenly thought, “how am I supposed to lead this?” Because honestly, he didn’t have a clue either. So, he stepped up as Team Manager and chose to figure things out together with the team. He listened to what everyone wanted, what excited them, and tried to put it all into a direction.

The “Odd duck” 

At the start of the year, Liam also realized the lack of team vision for the year was not his only challenge… Yes, Epoch had made it into the DreamHall. It was a space filled with machines that could build cars, boats and probably rockets. And then… there was Epoch.

“We were the Odd ducks,” Liam said. “People would walk past with a tilted head and whisper, ‘What do they even do? Why are they here if they don’t use the machines’, ‘What kind of DreamTeam is that?’”

For many, it was confusing. While other DreamTeams built things you could see, touch, and photograph, like vehicles and impressive hardware, Epoch was working with something different: code. Invisible stuff. Nobody could see what they were doing.

But Liam was dedicated to changing that perspective and proving that data and AI could have just as much impact as any physical product (and maybe even more). He wanted to make the invisible visible by showing that AI is as powerful as horsepower. The way to prove themselves was through showing they could perform, because saying was not enough.

And over time, they did. The official establishment of the foundation was in December 2021. That moment marked a big shift, they weren’t just a group of friends anymore. They were an organization.

Finally a vision

After some time, it was time for a change. After a lot of discussion with his team, they finally found a goal for their year. They wanted to show that AI didn’t have to belong to only some companies,”that no power position emerges,” he explained. Instead, they aimed to democratize AI, to make AI open, transparent, and accessible to everyone. By building open-source models and sharing their knowledge.

Hitting the restart button

As Epoch’s vision became clearer, things started to shift within the team, and not everyone was on board. It wasn’t just about building tech anymore, it was about building something with a purpose. At the same time, the team needed a clearer story, one they could proudly share with the DreamHall, with partners, and with themselves. That meant making tough calls about priorities, which led to a split in the team.That shift required the team to push the reset button. By February, they officially hit it.

New goals were set, and personal preferences had to make room for the bigger picture. For Liam, this was the toughest part of his year. Some teammates didn’t align with the new goals. Difficult conversations followed. He had to sit down with several members and together they came to the conclusion that their vision no longer matched the team’s. He did not enjoy these kinds of talks, but he knew it was necessary for Epoch to grow. Some members left, but new excited ones joined soon after.

Achievements of their year

Sure, they didn’t win any competitions that year. But they won in other ways.

For starters, they got their first partner, which showed them that they are credible. Back then, AI wasn’t a big thing yet. So try to pitch that to companies. But somehow, they made it work.

They also figured out pretty quickly that going from 0 to 100 just wasn’t going to happen. “0 to 80 felt ambitious enough,” Liam joked, noting how different today’s problems are from the ones they faced. “Back then, we were just happy if we had a structure by the end of the day.” So most of their energy went into figuring out the basics: team structure, goals, who does what…

Stuff you don’t learn during lectures

Before Epoch, Liam never had this much responsibility. Leading the team meant making tough calls, and confronting doubts he’d never faced before. During that year, he came face-to-face with himself. “Who am I to make these decisions? Do I really have the right to define where this team is going?”

As Team Manager, the responsibility fell on his shoulders. But he was still just a student, and that made it feel uncomfortable. Yet over time, he came to the realization: “If I don’t do it, no one else will.”

His year at Epoch became a course in leadership, with no lectures, no manual, and no safety net. He had to navigate team misalignment, manage conflicting ambitions, and steer a group of individuals through uncertainty.

Liam also learned to let go of perfection. Some of the goals they set at the start of the year turned out to be too ambitious. Not all of them were achieved, and that was okay. It didn’t mean they had failed. It wasn’t the end of Epoch. Instead, they laid the foundation for future teams to build on. The structure they put in place would help the next generation take those unfinished goals and actually make them happen.

Because in the end, it wasn’t just about building a team. It was about building himself.

Don’t compare this to a job

It’s fair to think, “I could learn all of this at a job, and get paid while I’m at it.” And yes, that’s true. At a job, you earn a salary. There are clear expectations, and usually someone above you telling you what to do. 

But a DreamTeam offers something completely different.

Being part of a DreamTeam isn’t like having a job. No one hands you a to-do list. You’re the one deciding what those tasks even are. It’s a mix of playground, startup, and a safe space. You get to experiment, fail, and try again. 

It's a place that will put you out of your comfort zone. You’re not just learning technical skills, you will also learn how to deal with yourself, especially when things don’t go as planned. “The ways of learning are very different,” Liam explained. “It’s more free. It comes from the individual.” And that freedom only works because of the team culture. “There’s psychological safety,” Liam said. “You can say anything. People accept each other. Nothing is too crazy to share.”

A year in a DreamTeam can get personal. Really personal. Sooner or later, you’ll hit a wall. You’ll ask yourself: “What am I even doing here?” But weirdly enough, that moment, when you’re lost and a bit overwhelmed, is often where the real growth begins.

That kind of experience doesn’t come with a paycheck. But it’s worth it.

Today and Beyond

Liam now works at ASML while pursuing his master’s degree. His journey with Epoch, it gave him more than a line on his CV. It gave him real experience.

What made Liam stand out wasn’t just his studies, but what he had actually done. The lessons and experiences from Epoch didn’t line up perfectly with a job description, but they showed that he had the right mindset, skills, and drive. And that gave companies confidence: “if I could handle that, I could learn the rest on the job”. That’s the thing: companies aren’t always looking for the perfect resume. They’re looking for potential, for someone who fits the culture, learns fast, and gets things done. “Hiring the perfect candidate on paper takes time and money, most companies don’t have that luxury”, he explained. “What they want is someone who’s already shown they can take initiative and grow.”

Liam learned to bring that mindset into interviews: to focus less on matching the checklist, and more on showing what he had learned and what he could contribute. And most importantly he learned to just start the conversation.

You don’t need to be an AI expert to benefit from a team like Epoch. You just need the drive to try, to learn, and to grow. Most people underestimate themselves. Liam almost did too.

What Is a DreamTeam, Really?

Let’s be honest, none of us really have it all figured out. We’re students, wandering around campus (and life), trying to make sense of where we’re going. A DreamTeam might look polished from the outside, but behind the scenes? It’s a lot of learning on the job.

Take Liam, for example. When he joined Epoch, did he know what he was doing? Absolutely not. He was full of excitement, maybe naive. Epoch didn’t have a stable foundation yet. There was no roadmap, no blueprint, just a rough idea and a lot of ambition. 

And you know what? He doesn’t regret a second of it. In fact, he’d do it all over again, naivety and all.

Because here’s the thing: everyone who joins a DreamTeam is a little naive. No one really knows how their year will go. But that’s the beauty of it. You jump in, not knowing what’s coming, and in return, you gain more experience than you ever expected, and you grow in ways you didn’t see coming.

Now, fast-forward to today. Epoch has progressed a lot since Epoch II. There’s a real foundation now: clearer goals, alumni you can reach out to, and guides to help you navigate the year. So no, you’re not starting from zero anymore. But don’t think that everything is set, there’s still plenty of room to experiment. The guide we give you? It’s just a guide. It’s packed with lessons we’ve learned, and we strongly recommend you use it. But in the end, it’s your call. Because this is your year at Epoch. Your chance to try things out, make mistakes, build something new, and leave your own mark.

Liam often tells students who are unsure about joining a DreamTeam: “if you’re even thinking about it, that’s a sign it’s worth doing.” The freedom to explore, the challenge to overcome, and the space to grow, these are experiences you won’t find anywhere else. Joining Epoch doesn’t just shape your skills, it shapes who you are.

“You don’t know what you are getting out of it, but for sure you won't find an alternative.”

Interviewer: Sascha Engelvaart | Interviewee: Liam Punselie