Since completing a doctorate in physics from Oxford University in 1974, Melvyn Hunt has worked continuously in speech technology research.

Among several innovations made by Hunt and now in widespread use is the application of linear regression for speaker adaptation (MLLR). Hunt's career in speech technology began at the British Government's Joint Speech Research Unit, working on speaker identification and carrying out basic research on vocal cord activity.

In 1992, in partnership with John Bridle, he set up the UK R&D subsidiary of Dragon Systems. Most recently before joining Novauris, he was Joint Managing Director (along with John Bridle) of Phonetic Systems UK Ltd.

Dr. Hunt has also served as an Expert Adviser on speech technology to the European Commission (DGXIII), as a member of the IEEE Speech Technical Committee, and of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Speech Communication. He is an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Linguistics and Phonetics at University College London.