Universiti Malaysia Perlis (English: University of Malaysia, Perlis) or UniMAP is located at the northernmost part of the Malaysian peninsula, less than 35 km from the Thailand border in the town of Arau, Perlis. Formerly known as Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Utara Malaysia (English: Northern Malaysia University College of Engineering) or KUKUM, it was approved by the Cabinet as a public institution of higher learning in May, 2001. Its first intake comprised 116 engineering students, who started classes in June, 2002. It now has approximately 7,000 students, and a workforce of more than 600 people comprising academic and non-academic staff. There are twenty three programmes leading to B. Eng and B. Business and six programmes leading to Diploma (Engineering), offered through eight engineering schools and one Business School. In addition, it also has twelve postgraduate programmes leading to MSc (Engineering) and PhD. Electronic-based engineering is UniMAP's focus. However, related fields of engineering and technology that support the advancement of electronic-based engineering are also pursued at UniMAP .