ABSTRACT
The broad area of multicriteria is predicated by using data analytics for decision making. The emergence of this body of research and applications has seen tremendous growth over the past several decades. Dedicated researchers have used their intellectual capabilities to develop new analytical techniques that have changed the world of decision making. Foremost among this class of mathematical researchers is Professor Ravi Ravindran, whose works have received international acclaim over the years. Although I had heard and seen his name in technical literature while he was at Purdue University, I first met Ravi when he hired me as an assistant professor of industrial engineering at the University of Oklahoma. My life changed for the better for forever from that point on. My professional growth and career advancement would not have been possible were it not for Ravi being my first Department Head. Ravi not only did research and publish his multicriteria techniques from an intellectual approach but also directly applied those techniques in leading, mentoring, and nurturing all the faculty members who reported to him. My contribution to this festschrift in honor of Ravi is a testimony on how Ravi has influenced many lives in the academic community. Rather than write a new treatise on “Big Data Analytics Using Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Models,” I have chosen a different path by documenting some of the series of collaborative work we did with Ravi at the University of Oklahoma, specifically on our famously acclaimed projects for Tinker Air Force Base in the mid-1980s. This is an intellectual documentary in honor of Professor A. Ravi Ravindran.
