Did you contact Binghamton University at all? (Just as a way to even get engineering students to help out). I talked to the chairman of mechanical engineering (James Pitarresi I think) while I was there for an open house, he seemed like a very proactive person in technology. You should try dropping him an email (probably available on the
binghamton website). If contacting him turns into a dead end you could try contacting one of the
engineering clubs on campus (ASME perhaps?) - see if they have an interest.
I know from just walking around that they have a pretty good machine shop there (which is at least always a problem for our team in particular - getting parts made).
Good luck!