This paper presents the design of a model-based controller for the diesel engine air-path system. The controller is implemented based on a reduced order model consisting of only pressure and power dynamics with practical concerns. To deal with the model uncertainties effectively, a sliding mode controller, which is robust to model uncertainties, is proposed for the air-path system. The control performance of the proposed control scheme is verified through simulation with the valid plant model of a 6,000cc heavy duty diesel engine.