tool to create .deb for proprietary software?

[Matt Zagrabelny <mzagrabe@d.umn.edu>]

Greetings,

After apt-cache searching and doing some googling, I have a question
for the mentors.

Is there a tool to create a .deb from a directory of files? I am
thinking of a Mathematica install I just had to perform and I'd rather
put a .deb in our local repo and have clients pull it rather than
manually installing this application on a bunch of computers.

I know I could use "ar" and "tar" to get things done, but wasn't sure
if there was a more elegant approach.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

-mz