The following thesis is the result of a six-month internship in Kineton s.r.l., based in Turin, specialized in verification and validation of automotive powertrain control systems. The objective of the thesis is to configure a Hardware-In-the-Loop dSpace simulator for verification and validation of a Diesel Engine Control Module and to improve the MATLAB Simulink model that runs in the simulator processing unit as a real-time application. HIL testing, placed at the end of the V-model adopted in software development, is widely used in verification and validation of complex embedded control systems as it allows to reduce costs and time. The first part of this project is concerned to the study of the main characteristics of a dSpace SCALEXIO simulator, in order to obtain the wiring harness necessary to connect the Engine Control Module to the simulator and configure it for the test activity.