Designing and implementing such a multi-disciplinary academic programme without precedent in the arena of conventionally stratified academic disciplines can be a challenging task. It requires a strong sense of vision coupled with commitment, endurance coupled with flexibility, and team work coupled with wise leadership and organizational skills.

In this paper, we describe the design and development of a Masters-level academic programme in Modeling and Simulation at the Centre for Modeling and Simulation, Savitribai Phule Pune University, and first implemented in the academic year 2008-09. The long and arduous process that culminated into this programme began with brain-storming within a core group, a rigorous design exercise, followed by informal expert reviews that led to an initial one-year diploma implementation. Gradual and incremental experience accumulated from running this diploma programme, together with design-redesign cycles, readily available academic and organizational help – and some luck – eventually brought the programme to it current form, i.e., a full-length two-year M.Tech. degree programme in modeling and simulation. We also share our outlook and some of the wisdom gained in the process.

Perhaps the single most important take-home message of our exercise is that curriculum design and implementation in any discipline is a serious endeavour that requires commitment on part of the faculty, long-term organizational commitment, will, and support, and a focus on the overall objective by all.