[mlangsdorf]

The Essayee were a bunch of potential allies/potential enemies in one of my AtE games. They were, of course, the survivors/descendants of the local university's Society of Automotive Engineers and were notable for having large numbers of working vehicles.

I'd expect the A&M colleges to do relatively well, AtE. In addition to academic focus you mentioned, a lot of them have strong ROTC programs, which means they'll have access to some people with some military training.

Reed College in Oregon has a working nuclear reactor on-campus. It's tiny (250 kW), but it's still enough to run the lights for a while. That might make a good hook for a campaign set in the Pacific NW.

An alternate take would be the Last Conservatory: lacking immediately practical skills, the music professors managed to convince the local communities that preserving the musical tradition of the past was important enough to feed the professors. That would be an interesting concept for a social/politics focused AtE game: the Conservatory is constantly having to justify its existence, cutting deals and working behind the scenes to remove local leaders that are hostile the Conservatory's existence.