Robotics engineering, long considered a composite of various engineering disciplines, has developed over the past two decades to where it now has identifiable areas of technical focus, as well as scientific engineering expertise, and is now becoming a focused discipline in its own right. We find that industry now specifically seeks engineering talent concentrated in the robotics field possessing multidisciplinary skills and systems understanding. Also, students entering university engineering programs now often have developed great interest and understanding in robotics due to their participation in competition programs such as First Robotics and Robofest. Because of this voiced need from industry and interest possessed by entering engineering students Lawrence Technological University developed a new multidisciplinary Bachelor of Science degree in robotics engineering. The degree was launched in the fall of 2011 with direct support and input from Lawrence Tech's math and computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering departments. The robotics engineering degree is currently administered through the Lawrence Tech mechanical engineering department. In this paper the author reviews the approach used to develop the overall objectives of the degree, the challenges of curriculum development and its structure, and how to negotiate through the difficult decisions required when selecting what the most critical multidisciplinary aspects of each of the three supporting departments without the risk of academic technical content dilution. Also reviewed in this paper are several other important aspects encountered in the development of this new degree such as benchmarking of other programs, the seeking, collection and incorporation of industry input and their partnerships, the approval of this new program through the university's "new programs" approval process, the recruitment of current and new faculty to support the program, and strategy currently employed for addressing assessment and eventual ABET accreditation of the program. Each of these aspects is a great challenge for any new program, but due to the complexity and the interdepartmental multidisciplinary requirements of a robotics engineering program great care and effort was made to assure that the foundational aspects of the program such as projects, research, and student learning were all complementary to current and future success of the program. The author also discusses innovative approaches used in teaching within this program. The perspectives and impact of multidisciplinary designs, approaches, and experiences of the robotics engineering degree program on constituents including students, faculty, administration, career services and employers are also reviewed. Lastly, documented feedback from students is also provided that give their perspective on the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]