CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The University of Akron will become the second site in the so-called Ohio Cyber Range, the state’s effort to advance cybersecurity education and research.

The range allows for cybersecurity testing as well as training to best handle online security threats. Cybersecurity facilities provide hands-on training for students and others, including military personnel. The first part of the range was set up at the University of Cincinnati.

“This new site of the Ohio Cyber Range will bring range services closer to the residents of Northeast Ohio and provide access to new learning tools for cybersecurity,” Maj. Gen. Mark Bartman, Ohio adjutant general, said in a news release. “With the Ohio Cyber Range and other innovative initiatives, Ohio can be a model for the rest of the country in cybersecurity.”

The designation means the University of Akron will receive a $1.18 million state grant to add more servers, storage and programming to the university’s cybersecurity facilities.

UA launched its cybersecurity track in the fall in 2017. It is the only program in the United States to offer cryptology, or the study of computer codes, at an undergraduate level.

In May of this year, UA received $200,000 from the Timken Foundation to create a new cybersecurity testing lab. The 2,000 square-foot space includes 30 workstations and a control station.

The university also declared in August that cybersecurity is an “area of opportunity” and that officials plan to hire professors in that field.