ANNAPOLIS, Md. — To better train future cyberwarriors, the U.S. Naval Academy is approaching senior Navy officials to gauge interest in commissioning a new building to house the Center for Cyber Security Studies on the school’s campus, academy officials said Monday.

The concept is the latest sign of academy’s rising interest in finding ways to increase midshipmen exposure to a high-tech field of growing importance to national security.

The building also would provide needed space for project-based learning at the academy, which requires students to put their classroom knowledge to work in practical engineering applications.

Andrew Phillips, the Naval Academy’s chief academic officer, outlined the potential for putting a new building between the school’s library and engineering building, but he emphasized that the concept is in its preliminary stages.

“Of course, no decisions or promises have been made by anyone, but our point is simply to showcase how we think we can best meet these emerging needs of the Navy and Marine Corps,” Phillips said.

Phillips said the building could cost between $80 million and $100 million and the overall cost could be higher if classified information is used as part of the training, due to the added expense in protecting the information.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., who chairs a congressional subcommittee that oversees cybersecurity issues and is a member of the academy’s Board of Visitors, underscored the importance of cybersecurity concerns in the nation’s defense.

“The cyber threat is probably one of the biggest threats our nation faces, and our future leaders, I’m sure, will be so much involved with cyber,” Ruppersberger said.

The Naval Academy has been working to boost its cyber offerings. The computer science department recently held its first-ever cybersecurity course for students who are not computer science majors. The school also is considering working knowledge about cyber warfare into the core curriculum for all students.

“We’re assuming the Navy really wants us to develop a cyber presence, but the Navy is going to have to tell us to what extent they want us to do that,” Phillips said.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., have made cybersecurity a part of the curriculum taken by all students for years.

In December, the Naval Academy created the Center for Cyber Security Studies to coordinate ways of increasing students’ exposure to cyber studies. On Monday, the school announced that Cmdr. Steven Simon, the commanding officer of the Naval Communications Security Material System at Andrews Air Force Base, will be the center’s director.

Larry and Julie Cozad at Gleneagle Sertoma’s wine tasting. Photo by Photo by Linda Navarro