Does the uni have ultrasound, xray or MRI? There are plenty of non-destructive methods of measuring sections. You can get a good outer surface with a laser scanner or LIDAR. If you can get the scan in a point cloud then you can convert it to a CAD model.

The best thing about this approach is you an scan a few heads, get an idea of deviation in the casting without destroying anything. Maybe have a talk to the Metrology people at the university before cutting it up, see what they have.