The NJIT Capstone Program was founded in the Fall 2002 semester, by Professor Osama Eljabiri, as a way to instill students with valuable real-world work experience, to which they may not yet have been exposed.
Professor Eljabiri's plan for the Capstone Program involved the submission of IT, IS, or CS-related projects by local corporate sponsors from the Newark, NJ area.
To assist with the program's coordination, Professor Eljabiri put together an advisory board made up of past students, sponsors, and other colleagues (not necessarily from NJIT).
After a few successful semesters as an undergraduate course, the Capstone Program was offered to graduate students in the CS, IS, and IT disciplines.
The Professor developed a related program for high school students under the name "Real World Connections".