A fuzzy multi-criteria decision analysis model for advanced technology assessment at Kennedy Space Center

The rapid development of computer and information technology has made project evaluation and selection a difficult task at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Shuttle Project Engineering Office. Decision Makers (DMs) are required to consider a vast amount of intuitive and analytical information in the decision process. Fuzzy Euclid is a Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) model that captures the DMs’ beliefs through a series of intuitive and analytical methods such as the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and subjective probability estimation. A defuzzification method is used to obtain crisp values from the subjective judgments provided by multiple DMs. These crisp values are synthesized with Entropy and the theory of displaced ideal to assist the DMs in their selection process by plotting the alternative projects in a four-zone graph based on their Euclidean distance from the ‘ideal choice’. Journal of the Operational Research Society (2010) 61, 1459–1470. doi:10.1057/jors.2009.107 Published online 14 October 2009